— Ch. 1 · Origins And Negotiations —
Paris Agreement.
~6 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris brought together 196 parties to draft a new international treaty. This gathering followed decades of failed attempts, including the 1997 Kyoto Protocol which regulated emissions for only a limited set of countries from 2008 to 2012. The United States had decided not to ratify that earlier protocol due to its legally binding nature and distributional conflicts. Negotiations collapsed again at Copenhagen in 2009 when the resulting accord was not legally binding or universally adopted. Under the leadership of UNFCCC executive secretary Christiana Figueres, momentum returned after that failure. The Durban Platform established in 2011 mandated negotiations for a legal instrument governing climate change mitigation measures from 2020. These talks were to be informed by the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC. The final wording of the agreement was adopted by consensus on the 12th of December 2015. A single word nearly derailed the process when US legal teams realized "shall" had been approved instead of "should." French officials solved this crisis by labeling it a typographical error. Nicaragua indicated they wanted to object to the adoption but were denied a chance.
Structure And Mechanisms
The Paris Agreement contains 16 introductory paragraphs and 29 articles covering procedural and operational matters. It operates as a bottom-up structure where nations set their own nationally determined contributions rather than having targets imposed top down. Unlike the Kyoto Protocol which sets commitment targets with legal force, the Paris Agreement allows for voluntary and nationally determined targets. Specific climate goals are politically encouraged rather than legally bound under international law. Only the processes governing reporting and review of these goals are mandated. This structure is especially notable for the United States because there are no legal mitigation or finance targets. The agreement considers itself an executive agreement rather than a treaty since it does not require further legislation from the US Senate. Article 6 outlines cooperative approaches that parties can take in achieving carbon emissions reductions. It helps establish the Paris Agreement as a framework for a global carbon market. Paragraphs 6.2 and 6.3 establish a framework to govern the international transfer of mitigation outcomes known as ITMOs. Switzerland has signed deals regarding ITMO trading with Peru, Ghana, Senegal, Georgia, Dominica, Vanuatu, Thailand and Ukraine. A mechanism called the Sustainable Development Mechanism was established to contribute to greenhouse gas mitigation and support sustainable development.