Few details were given, but the minister said the deal was a joint venture between BP Lightsource and Shell. In December 2015, the pioneering Paris Climate Agreement was concluded by 195 nations around the world. The agreement demonstrates the global determination to reduce CO2 emissions and reduce the rate of global warming. Of the 197 countries that have signed the Paris Agreement to date, 153 (78%) have already ratified the agreement and brought it into force in their own countries, committing to a stand-alone plan to reduce CO2 emissions. Trinidad and Tobago is among the minority (22%) of countries that have not ratified the agreement. „We are in the midst of close contacts and discussions at the highest level at the level of the finance ministers of the two countries with the Guyanese government,“ he continued, „to see how Trinidad and Tobago companies are setting up in Guyana to look for opportunities in the services sector, in the energy sector; How can this level of cooperation be cemented through more structured agreements. Most of our CARICOM regional neighbours have already ratified the agreement and reached the first date of entry into force on 4 November 2016. The only other countries in the Caricom region that have not ratified the agreement are Suriname and Haiti. The government has also signed a unification framework agreement with Barbados to allow exploration for hydrocarbon resources at the common maritime border between the two countries. In the run-up to the Paris meeting, each country was invited to develop its own CO2 control plan. Trinidad and Tobago has committed to reducing emissions by 15% by 2030 in the power generation, industry and transport sectors and was one of the first countries to file an Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC). While Trinidad and Tobago is a signatory to the agreement, our Government has not ratified the agreement and therefore the agreement is not in force. The main objective of the agreement is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by maintaining a global temperature increase well below two degrees Celsius this century compared to pre-industrial levels and continuing efforts to further limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, while its absolute annual greenhouse gas emissions account for less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in T&T come mainly from the power generation, transport and industrial sectors, which are the priority sectors for mitigation measures (Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, 2018). . . .