Professor Michael Wara explains why the promises made at the Paris Climate talks are “not enough” to solve the problem of climate change.

World leaders gathered in Paris this week in an effort to save the world from catastrophic climate change, but it may be too late, according to Stanford environmental law expert Michael Wara.

“The emissions reductions that countries are coming forward with and promising in Paris are not nearly enough to solve the problem of climate change,” Wara told NBC Bay Area.

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“It’s not going to be an easy one to solve, particularly in the context of US politics,” Stanford’s Michael Wara said.

Wara refers to the 26 lawsuits brought by individual states against the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, a joint venture with the Environmental Protection Agency that was announced in August. The plan sets standards for power plants and states to reduce the carbon emissions it says drive climate change.

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“Were the Supreme Court to strike down the regulations, were a Republican administration in 2017 to walk back from these commitments, the perception that the U.S. has kind of gotten its act together could change very quickly,” Wara said.