Which international agreement aims to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels?

• A. Paris Agreement
• B. Kyoto Protocol
• C. Copenhagen Accord
• D. Montreal Protocol

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is the global framework that countries use to address climate change and the specific long‑term temperature goal it sets. The Paris Agreement is the treaty that codifies a universal aim to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, while also pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C. This framing is what makes it the best answer: it moves beyond any single country and creates a shared target for all nations, with each country submitting its own nationally determined contributions and reporting on progress.

Why this stands out: the language “well below 2°C” is a defining feature of the Paris Agreement, along with the intent to strengthen action over time through more ambitious plans. It builds on a collective understanding that 2°C is a threshold beyond which climate risks become much higher, and it pushes for continual improvement rather than fixed, isolated targets.

The other options don’t fit this specific long-term goal. The Kyoto Protocol focused on binding emissions cuts for developed countries but did not establish the broad, universal, well-below-2°C framework. The Montreal Protocol addresses the phaseout of ozone-depleting substances, not climate warming. The Copenhagen Accord touched on the 2°C idea but was a political agreement without the same universal, long-term structure and commitments that define the Paris Agreement.