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Manuscript ID : JEST-1712-4075 (R1) Visit : 209 Page: 85 - 98

10.30495/jest.2022.32952.4075

Article Type: Original Research

Analyzing the Nature of States Obligations in the Paris agreement 2015 on climate change

Subject Areas : environmental low

Seyed-Abbas Poorhashemi 1 , mojtaba sobhaninia 2 , seyed ali hosseini azad 3

1 - President of the Canadian Institute for International Law Expertise (CIFILE), Toronto, Canada.
2 - Ph.D. of Environmental Law, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Tehran Science and Research Branch of Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. *(Corresponding Author)
3 - Ph.D. of Environmental Law, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Tehran Science and Research Branch of Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Received: 2017-12-25 Accepted : 2018-03-15 Published : 2022-01-21

Keywords: International Environmental law, Climate Change, Paris agreement 2015, Environmental Treaties,

Abstract :

One of the most important international instruments to deal with climate change is the Paris Agreement 2015. For over three decades, states have begun long-term talks and negotiations on climate change, which is always on the international agenda. One reason for not concluding an international instrument is that states are not willing to adopt binding commitments on mitigating Green House Gas emission. The failed experience of the Kyoto Protocol 1997 reflects this approach. The piece analyzes the nature of states obligations in the Paris agreement on climate change. This research is based on a legal inductive analysis method. According to this method, the Paris Agreement and some related legal instruments on climate change have been analyzed and assessed. This article while identifies various defining elements of legal character of the Paris Agreement, illustrates that even though the Paris Agreement is an “International Treaty within the meaning of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties” which contains a mix of hard, soft and non-obligations is an important step forward to address climate change, but still has legal and normative inefficiencies.  

References:


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_||_

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    2.
  2. Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, “Adoption of the PA” , in Report of the Conference of the Parties on Its Twenty-First Session, Held in Paris from 30 November to 13 December 2015, Addendum, Part Two: Action Taken by the Conference of the Parties at Its Twenty-First Session, FCCC/CP/201510/Add.1.Decision 1/CP.21.2016
    3.
  3. Copenhagen Accord, Decision 2/CP.15 (Dec. 18-19, 2009), COP Report No. 15, UN Doc. FCCC/CP/2009/11/Add.1, Mar 30, 2010.
    4.
  4. See Information In: http://www4.unfccc.int/submossions/INDC/Submission%20Pages/submissions.aspx
    5.
  5. Rajamani, Lavanya, 2016, “Ambition and Differentiation in the 2015 Paris Agreement”, 65 ICLQ 493, pp. 493-514.
    6.
  6. Press Release, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Third Conference of Parties, Industrialized Countries to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emission By 5.2%, Dec. 11. 1997, Available at: http://www.meteor.iastate.edu/gcp/kyoto/finalagree.html
    7.
  7. UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto Protocol, Targets for the First Commitment Period, Available at: http://unfccc.int/Kyoto_protocol/items/3145.php
    8.
  8. UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Report of the Conference of the Parties on its Third Session, held at Kyoto from 1 to 11 Dec 1997, Part Two: Action Taken by The Conference of the Parties at its Third Session, Mar. 25. 1998, Available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/cop3/07a01.pdf.
    9.
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    10.
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    11.
  11. Cancun Climate Change Summit: Japan refuses to extend Kyoto protocol, THE GUARDIAN, Dec. 1. 2010, Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/dec/01/cancun-climate-change-summit-japan-kyoto.  
    12.
  12. Cancun Climate Change Conference: Russia will not renew Kyoto protocol, THE GUARDIAN, Dec. 10, 2010, Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/dec/10/cancun-climate-change-conference-kyoto.
    13.
  13. N., Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto, 11 Dec. 1997, Canada: Withdrawal, Dec. 16. 2011, available at: https://unfccc.int/files/kyoto_protocol/background/application/pdf/canada.pdf.pdf.
    14.
  14. UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Annual Compilation and Accounting Report for Annex B Parties under the Kyoto Protocol for 2015, Nov. 25. 2015, available at http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cmp11/eng/06.pdf.
    15.
  15. Ibid
    16.
  16. N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, Status of the Doha Amendment, Available at: http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/doha_amendment/items/7362.php.
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  17. Climate change information, New Zealand’s emissions reduction targets, Available at: https://www.climatechange.govt.nz/reducing-our-emissions/targets.html.
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    23.
  23. Bondasky, Daniel, 2015, legally binding Versus Non-Legally Binding Instrument, in: Scott Barrett Carlo Carraro and Jaime de Melo, Towards a Workable and Effective Climate Regime, VOX EU eBook, p. 23.
    24.
  24. Barret, S. 2003, Environment and Statecraft: The Strategy of Environmental Treaty-Making, Oxford University Press, p. 12.
    25.
  25. Bondasky, Daniel, 2009, The Art and Craft of International Environmental Law, Harvard University Press, p.76.
    26.
  26. Voigt, Christina, 2016, The Paris Agreement: What is the Standard of Conduct for Parties? , 26, Questions of International Law, p. 24.
    27.
  27. Bondasky, Daniel, 1993, the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change: A Commentary, 18:2 Yale Journal of International Law, 451, pp. 516-517.
    28.




 

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