The Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement
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What is the Paris Agreement?
Credit: UNFCCC
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by
196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015. It
entered into force on 4 November 2016.
Its overarching goal is to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C
above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above
pre-industrial levels.”
However, in recent years, world leaders have stressed the need to limit global warming to 1.5°C by
the end of this century.
That’s because the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicates that crossing the
1.5°C threshold risks unleashing far more severe climate change impacts, including more frequent
and severe droughts, heatwaves and rainfall.
To limit global warming to 1.5°C, greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest and
decline 43% by 2030.
The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral climate change process because, for the first
time, a binding agreement brings all nations together to combat climate change and adapt to its
effects.
How does the Paris Agreement work?
Implementation of the Paris Agreement requires economic and social transformation, based on the
best available science. The Paris Agreement works on a five-year cycle of increasingly ambitious
climate action -- or, ratcheting up -- carried out by countries. Since 2020, countries have been
submitting their national climate action plans, known as nationally determined contributions
(NDCs). Each successive NDC is meant to reflect an increasingly higher degree of ambition compared
to the previous version.
Recognizing that accelerated action is required to limit global warming to 1.5°C, the COP27 cover
decision requests Parties to revisit and strengthen the 2030 targets in their NDCs to align with the
Paris Agreement temperature goal by the end of 2023, taking into account different national
circumstances.
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
In their NDCs, countries communicate actions they will take to reduce their greenhouse gas
emissions in order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement. Countries also communicate in their
NDCs actions they will take to build resilience to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Long-Term Strategies
To better frame the efforts towards the long-term goal, the Paris Agreement invites countries to
formulate and submit long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies (LT-LEDS).
LT-LEDS provide the long-term horizon to the NDCs. Unlike NDCs, they are not mandatory.
Nevertheless, they place the NDCs into the context of countries’ long-term planning and
development priorities, providing a vision and direction for future development.
How are countries supporting one another?
The Paris Agreement provides a framework for financial, technical and capacity building support to
those countries who need it.
Finance
The Paris Agreement reaffirms that developed countries should take the lead in providing financial
assistance to countries that are less endowed and more vulnerable, while for the first time also
encouraging voluntary contributions by other Parties. Climate finance is needed for mitigation,
because large-scale investments are required to significantly reduce emissions. Climate finance is
equally important for adaptation, as significant financial resources are needed to adapt to the
adverse effects and reduce the impacts of a changing climate.
Technology
The Paris Agreement speaks of the vision of fully realizing technology development and transfer for
both improving resilience to climate change and reducing GHG emissions. It establishes a technology
framework to provide overarching guidance to the well-functioning Technology Mechanism. The
mechanism is accelerating technology development and transfer through its policy and
implementation arms.
Capacity-Building
Not all developing countries have sufficient capacities to deal with many of the challenges brought
by climate change. As a result, the Paris Agreement places great emphasis on climate-related
capacity-building for developing countries and requests all developed countries to enhance support
for capacity-building actions in developing countries.
How are we tracking progress?
With the Paris Agreement, countries established an enhanced transparency framework (ETF).
Under ETF, starting in 2024, countries will report transparently on actions taken and progress
in climate change mitigation, adaptation measures and support provided or received. It also
provides for international procedures for the review of the submitted reports.
The information gathered through the ETF will feed into the Global stocktake which will assess the
collective progress towards the long-term climate goals.
This will lead to recommendations for countries to set more ambitious plans in the next round.
What have we achieved so far?
Although climate change action needs to be massively increased to achieve the goals of the Paris
Agreement, the years since its entry into force have already sparked low-carbon solutions and new
markets. More and more countries, regions, cities and companies are establishing carbon neutrality
targets. Zero-carbon solutions are becoming competitive across economic sectors representing 25%
of emissions. This trend is most noticeable in the power and transport sectors and has created
many new business opportunities for early movers.
By 2030, zero-carbon solutions could be competitive in sectors representing over 70% of global
emissions.

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The Paris Agreement

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The Paris Agreement

What is the Paris Agreement?

How does the Paris Agreement work?

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

How are countries supporting one another?

How are we tracking progress?

What have we achieved so far?

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