Unpacking the Paris Agreement

The recently adopted global climate deal is expected to enter into force in 2020, at the end of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. It has been hailed as a turning point in climate negotiations, after the failed attempt at Copenhagen climate conference in 2009 and four years of groundwork started in 2011 with the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, whose mandate was to involve all countries, both developed and developing, in adopting “a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force” applicable to all Parties to the UNFCCC. The paper examines the main features of the new global climate agreement, paying particular attention on mitigation, cooperative approaches, adaptation and loss & damage, climate finance, compliance and review mechanisms.