I. INTRODUCTION
Whereas Kyoto Protocol was the conclusion of the COP3 that took place in 1997, the Paris Agreements, the latest historical milestone towards climate change mitigation, is the result of the COP21 negotiations of 2015.
II. OBJECTIVES
The Paris Agreement is a "legally binding international treaty on climate change" [2], that was adopted by 196 parties. Figure 1 below depicts the current geographical coverage and status of parties which ratified the Paris Agreement, as of 2017. It is the first universal and legally binding agreement on climate change [3], hence acting as a landmark in this process. One must understand the extend of this agreement as a political and diplomatic success: As Dimitrov [4] pointed out, "After two decades of acrimonious debates and dismal failures, UN negotiations produced a climate agreement that was adopted and lauded in superlative terms by the European Union and India, by China, the US and island states. Countries with seemingly irreconcilable differences praised the global arrangement as fair, balanced and ambitious". Together, the parties, through the Paris Agreement, agreed on two main objectives: i) "Limiting global warming to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C" [2], i.e. the Mitigation targets and underlying policies; and ii) "strengthen countries’ ability to deal with the impacts of climate change and support them in their efforts" [2], i.e. the Adaptation targets and underlying policies.
III. NDCs AND PARIS AGREEMENTS
Parties negotiated and defined the pathway and mechanisms to reach both targets. On a time-based dimension, the Paris Agreements work on a 5-years cycle, at the end of which each party must submit their NDC's (Nationally Determined Contributions), i.e. their increasingly ambitious long-term action plan they intend to take in order to reduce their GHG Emissions and "build resilience to adapt to the impacts of rising temperatures\footnote" [2]. The details of these legal constraints are defined by Article 4 of the Paris Agreements. Furthermore, this 5-years cycle dynamics also enhance transparency between parties: i) It allows the regular assessment of collective progress; ii) It implies a constant reporting, to each other and to the public, about climate actions implementation; and iii) it supports and consolidate a robust stocktake and accountability system [3]. The first NDC's were published in 2015, whereas the second were supposed to be published in 2020. However, due to COVID-19, some parties still did not communicate their second NDC's as of 2021, such as Angola or the Republic of Congo. The full list of published NDCs can be found on the UN NDC Registry [5].
BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] Ministère de l'Europe et des affaires étrangères.(2020). COP21: The key points of the Paris Agreement.
https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/french-foreign-policy/climate-and-environment/the-fight-against-climate-change/2015-paris-climate-conference-cop21/cop21-the-paris-agreement-in-four-key-points/
[2] UNFCCC.(n.d.). The Paris Agreements.
https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement
[3] European Commission.(n.d.). Paris Agreements.
https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/international/negotiations/paris_en
[4] Dimitrov, R.S.(2016). The Paris Agreement on Climate Change: Behind Closed Doors. Global Environmental Politics. MIT.
[5] UNFCCC.(n.d.). NDC Registry.
https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/NDCStaging/Pages/All.aspx
