A presentation by IIED principal researcher Dr Achala Abeysinghe summarising the Paris Agreement’s opportunities, issues and challenges The presentation was made at an event on international climate law and policy organised by Bangladesh Center for Climate Justice, IIED and ICCCAD. More details: http://www.iied.org/helping-vulnerable-countries-achieve-equitable-solutions-climate-law-policy-making-processes

1. Paris Agreement on Climate
Change: Opportunities, issues
and Challenges
Dr. Achala Abeysinghe
Principal Researcher/ Team Leader
Global Climate Law, Policy and Governance
Achala.abeysinghe@iied.org

2. Focus of the presentation
• Overall analysis
• Provisions of the Paris Agreement
• What’s next?
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3. Overall analysis
• ‘A major win for multilateralism and
climate diplomacy’
• ‘Truly global agreement’
• ‘Unprecedented global collaboration on an
issue where divisions were deep and stakes
were high’
• ‘Proved that political leadership, combining
economic incentives and peer pressure,
guided intelligently by the United Nations ,
can produce the effective global
agreements’
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4. More good news
• Under the Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action, in Paris: 11,000 commitments
are registered, including:
• 2,250 cities and 150 regions covering 1.25 billion inhabitants
• 2,025 companies, 424 investors,
• and 235 civil society organizations.
One third of the 2,000 biggest global companies — with a market value equivalent to the
combined GDP of China, Germany, and Japan — committed to climate action.
Institutional investors have launched a portfolio decarbonization coalition, surpassing a $600
billion target in just days
Universities are divesting from fossil fuels;
15 of the world’s 20 largest banks — totaling close to $2 trillion in market value — have made
climate commitments.

5. Why is the Paris Agreement important?
• Legally binding agreement
• Universal participation
• Many new elements to address climate change
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6. Preamble
Article 1: Definitions
Article 2: purpose
Article 3: Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs
Article 4: Mitigation
Article 5: Greenhouse gas sinks and reservoirs and REDD+
Article 6: Cooperative approaches
Article 7: Adaptation
Article 8: Loss and damage
Article 9: Finance
Article 10: Technology development and transfer
Article 11: Capacity building
Article 12: Climate change awareness and education
Article 13: Transparency
Article 14: Global stocktake
Article 15: Facilitating implementation and compliance

7. Article 16: Conference of the Parties serving as meeting of the
Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA)
Article 17: Secretariat
Article 18: SBI and SBSTA
Article 19: Other bodies and institutional arrangements to serve
the Agreement
Article 20: Signature and ratification
Article 21: Entry into force
Article 22: Amendments
Article 23: Annexes
Article 24: Dispute settlement
Article 25: Voting
Article 26: Depository
Article 27: Reservations
Article 28: Withdrawal
Article 29: Languages

8. Paris Agreement: The house build on 3 key
pillars
• Legal Rigour
• Participation
• Effectiveness

9. The legal rigour
• Internationally legally binding agreement with provisions for entry
into force (follows the treaty structure as of Vienna Convention of
Law of Treaties)
• Key obligations in the operative paragraphs of the Agreement (though
somewhat weaker than expected)
• A mechanism of compliance is established

10. Participation
• 150 world leaders at the Paris COP
• 186 countries have submitted INDCs
• All parties to prepare, communicate and maintain INDCs
• All parties to participate in transparency framework

11. Key provisions
• Global goals: well below 2 degrees, pursue 1.5 degree target
• Mitigation: every country to submit a national climate action plan
(Nationally Determined Contribution) every 5 years
• Adaptation: Global adaptation goal is established
• Loss and damage: further steps to be taken to address loss and damage
due to climate impacts
• Finance: Developed countries to provide financial support. (100 billion
USD as the floor of financial support).
• Capacity building: support for developing countries on their capacity
building efforts.
• Technology: Technology Framework established

12. Key provisions
• Transparency: A transparency framework established
• Global stocktake: A global stocktake to happen every 5 years starting
from 2023
• Compliance: a compliance mechanism is established for facilitating
implementation and promoting compliance

13. Entry into Force
• This Agreement shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after the
date on which at least 55 Parties to the Convention accounting in
total for at least an estimated 55 percent of the total global
greenhouse gas emissions have deposited their instruments of
ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

14. Entry into Force
• Entry into force of an international Agreement is the
official moment an international agreement takes effect
fully and officially.
• 3 steps for entry into force
• Signing the Agreement
• Domestic ratification
• Entry into Force

15. Meeting the two triggers according to the Article 21 of the Paris
Agreement
Art 21 : The Agreement shall enter into force on the 30th day after the date on which at
least 55 Parties to the Convention accounting in total for at least an estimated 55 % of
total global greenhouse gas emissions have deposited their instruments of ratification,
acceptance, approval or accession with the Depositary.
At least Accounting for 55% of total
Global
GHGs
At least
55 Parties

17. Its not all perfect
• No long term pathway for mitigation
• No commitment to fulfil targets under NDCs
• No replenishment cycle for the Financial Mechanism under the Paris
agreement
• New target setting for climate finance postponed till 2025

18. Further rules to be developed
• Nationally Determined Contributions
• New market mechanisms
• Support for adaptation
• Sources of public finance
• Support for technology development and transfer
• Capacity building
• Transparency
• Global stocktake
• Compliance mechanism

19. However…ambition can be raised

20. What’s next?
• Signing of the Agreement from 22 April 2016 to 21 April 2017 (Signing
Ceremony in New York)
• Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement to start its work from
2016
• Ratification starts
• Ex-ante assessment of pre 2020 action in 2018
• The Agreement to come into force in 2020
• Implementation, implementation, implementation….