UNFCCC Paris Agreement

UNFCCC Paris Agreement
Name	Paris Agreement
Date signed	12 December 2015
Location signed	Paris
Parties	196
Depositor	United Nations Secretary-General

UNFCCC Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement is a multilateral treaty adopted at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change framework. It unites Parties including United States, China, European Union, India, Brazil, and South Africa in a global effort to limit temperature rise and address climate change impacts through nationally determined contributions and cooperative mechanisms. The Agreement builds on prior instruments such as the Kyoto Protocol and links to institutions like the World Bank, Green Climate Fund, and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Background and negotiation

Negotiations occurred during successive Conferences of the Parties including COP21, COP20, COP19, and drew on diplomatic processes from Montreal Protocol negotiations, lessons from the Kyoto Protocol compliance mechanisms, and science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment reports. Major negotiating blocs included the Alliance of Small Island States, G77, African Group of Negotiators, Least Developed Countries, the Umbrella Group, and the European Union negotiating as a bloc; influential national delegations included United States, China, India, Brazil, Russia, Japan, Canada, and Australia. Key figures and negotiators such as representatives from France as host, officials linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat, and leaders at summits such as G7 and G20 shaped political momentum. Finance pledges and technology provisions referenced entities like the Green Climate Fund, Global Environment Facility, World Bank, and bilateral arrangements involving Germany, United Kingdom, Norway, Japan, and United States.

Main provisions and goals

The Agreement sets a long-term goal to keep global temperature rise this century well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 °C, aligning with science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on 1.5 °C. It establishes mitigation objectives, adaptation planning, loss and damage recognition influenced by discussions involving Small Island Developing States, Least Developed Countries, and African Union members. The treaty creates cooperative approaches including market mechanisms referencing concepts discussed in Kyoto Protocol Article 6 deliberations and integrates mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology transfer, and capacity-building. It frames equity considerations invoking principles from the United Nations Charter, previous commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and negotiated differentiation between developed Parties such as European Union members and developing Parties like China, India, and Brazil.

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and implementation

Parties submit and update NDCs outlining mitigation and adaptation targets, with cycles of submission and enhancement guided by timelines agreed at COP24 and later sessions. NDCs have been filed by countries including United States (noting subsequent withdrawal and re-entry actions under different administrations), China, India, European Union, Brazil, Japan, Canada, South Africa, Mexico, Indonesia, Australia, Russia, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, and many Small Island Developing States. Implementation pathways draw on national plans such as National Adaptation Programme of Action submissions from Least Developed Countries, energy transition strategies influenced by International Energy Agency analyses, and sectoral policies engaging institutions like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and European Investment Bank. Transparency, ambition cycles, and domestic policy instruments including carbon pricing initiatives seen in European Union Emissions Trading System, California Cap-and-Trade Program, and national renewable energy targets are central to meeting NDCs.

Finance, technology transfer, and capacity-building

Finance commitments reference mobilization of public and private finance including pledged contributions to the Green Climate Fund and programming through the Global Environment Facility and multilateral development banks such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank. Donor countries like United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, and Norway have been prominent providers alongside pledges at COP sessions. Technology transfer mechanisms relate to Technology Executive Committee work under the UNFCCC and collaboration with entities like the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and International Renewable Energy Agency. Capacity-building initiatives engage United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme, Green Climate Fund readiness programs, and regional bodies including the African Union and Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Transparency framework, reporting, and compliance

The Agreement establishes an Enhanced Transparency Framework with reporting, technical expert review, and a Facilitative, Multilateral Consideration of Progress inspired by compliance modalities from Kyoto Protocol experiences. Parties submit Biennial Transparency Reports, National Communications, and greenhouse gas inventories aligned with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidelines. Compliance is overseen by a committee designed to be expert-based, facilitative, and non-punitive, distinct from tribunal models used in other treaties like the World Trade Organization dispute settlement system. Technical panels, review teams, and subsidiary bodies under the UNFCCC Secretariat facilitate assessment, with inputs from organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Global Carbon Project.

Criticisms, challenges, and effectiveness

Critics from civil society organizations including Greenpeace, 350.org, Sierra Club, and some scholars argue that nationally determined, non-binding targets lack enforceability compared with Kyoto Protocol legally binding commitments, while others highlight issues of ambition, finance shortfalls, and inadequate mechanisms for loss and damage akin to debates at COP27 and COP28. Challenges include divergent interests among Parties like United States and China, fossil-fuel sector lobbying linked to corporations headquartered in United States and Saudi Arabia, complexities in operationalizing Article 6 market mechanisms involving European Union and other carbon markets, and the gap between aggregate NDCs and pathways assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as consistent with 1.5 °C. Evaluations by institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and independent research centers (for example, the Grantham Research Institute and Climate Action Tracker) provide mixed assessments of progress, highlighting the need for accelerated mitigation, scaled finance through entities like the Green Climate Fund, and strengthened adaptation and resilience measures for vulnerable groups represented by the Alliance of Small Island States and Least Developed Countries.

Category:Climate change treaties