Salient Features Of Paris Agreement On Climate Change

In 1992, President George H.W. Bush and 107 other heads of state adopted a series of environmental agreements at the Earth Summit in Rio, Brazil, including the UNFCCC framework, which is still in force today. The international treaty aims to prevent dangerous human intervention in the planet`s climate systems in the long term. The Pact does not set limit values for greenhouse gas emissions for individual countries and does not contain enforcement mechanisms, but rather establishes a framework for international negotiations on future agreements or protocols to set binding emission targets. Participating countries meet annually at a Conference of the Parties (COP) to assess their progress and continue discussions on how best to tackle climate change. The amount of NDCs set by each country[8] sets the objectives of that country. However, the “contributions” themselves are not binding under international law, for lack of specificity, normative character or mandatory language necessary for the creation of binding norms. [20] In addition, there will be no mechanism to compel a country to set a target in its NPP by a set date, and no implementation if a target set out in a NSP is not met. [8] [21] There will be only one “Name and Shame” system[22] or, as János Pásztor, UN Under-Secretary-General for Climate Change, cbs News (USA) stated, a “Name and Encourage” plan. [23] Given that the agreement has no consequences if countries do not comply with their obligations, such a consensus is fragile. A stream of nations withdrawing from the agreement could trigger the withdrawal of other governments and lead to a total collapse of the agreement. [24] The Paris Agreement is the world`s first comprehensive climate agreement. [15] The agreement also states that each country should strive to reduce its carbon emissions “as quickly as possible”.

The Paris Agreement, already described as a historic agreement after its adoption, owes its success not only to the return of a favourable context for climate change and sustainable development, but also to efforts to reshape the management of international climate negotiations. The Paris Agreement is supported by new initiatives, which are all adaptations to the difficulties identified by previous P.C.A. This innovative approach is based on four elements: the adoption of a universal agreement. Define the national contributions of each State to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. While the text of the agreement does not mention the content of these contributions, it obliges signatory states to draw up a contribution plan, implement it and increase the amounts every five years. The involvement of civil society in the negotiation process through the Action Programme adopted in November 2016, which brings together civil society initiatives from 180 countries. . . .

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