* Research Handbook on the Law of the Paris Agreement

This comprehensive Research Handbook sets out a systematic analysis of the Paris Agreement taking into account developments since it entered into force in 2016. It explores the treaty’s capacity, as an instrument of international law, to compel state action to address the universal threat of climate change.

NOT YET PUBLISHED

Highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the Paris Agreement in light of state practice, each chapter contains a critical examination of a separate aspect of the treaty in order to aid understanding of its legal force. Eminent scholars with experience on Paris Agreement law explore how the agreement’s efficacy relies heavily upon the good will of states, sui generis domestic initiatives, forceful climate law at the domestic level, and other contextual factors such as international peace and cooperation. Acknowledging the weak legal substance of the Paris Agreement, the expert contributors propose new avenues of scholarly inquiry as well as new directions in the fight against climate change.

The Research Handbook on the Law of the Paris Agreement will prove beneficial for scholars, researchers, and students of law, environmental studies, and politics and public policy. Legal practitioners, ministries of foreign affairs, and international NGOs concerned with environmental issues and human rights will also benefit from the book’s practical implications.

table of content

1. Optimism and pessimism about the Paris Agreement 1

Alexander Zahar

 

2. Operational readiness of the Paris Agreement’s institutional framework 21

Christoph Schwarte and Olivia Tattarletti

 

3. The legal principles of the Paris Agreement: familiarity in novelty 43

Leslie-Anne Duvic-Paoli and Mara Wendebourg

 

4. ‘Collective’ state obligation to achieve the objective of the Paris Agreement: can it bridge the gap between collective ambition and individual state action? 60

Niklas S. Reetz and Sandrine Maljean-Dubois

 

5. A legal standard for state mitigation efforts: is national discretion bound to shrink over time? 82

Christopher Campbell-Duruflé

 

6. The Paris Agreement’s facilitative approach: a compliance-inducing design? 104

Imogen Forster and Anna Huggins

 

7. Ambition-raising and ambition-reducing features of the Paris Agreement 126

Rueanna Haynes and Lisa Benjamin

 

8. The Paris Agreement’s ‘nationally determined contribution’: law and practice 143

Alexander Zahar

 

9. The Paris Agreement’s contribution to the development of the law on adaptation 167

Lauren Nishimura

 

10. The use of elements of the Paris Agreement and IPCC reports in climate litigation 195

Meinhard Doelle, with Sara Seck and Rose Klug

 

11. Is the Paris Agreement a human rights treaty? 215

Benoit Mayer

 

12. The market mechanisms of the Paris Agreement and the Kyoto Protocol: a legal comparison 240

Géraud de Lassus St-Geniès

 

13. Constituent norms of the enhanced transparency framework 262

Daria Shapovalova

 

14. The Paris Agreement’s enhanced transparency framework: state practices and compliance challenges 279

Hao Zhang

 

15. Governing international climate finance and investment: the Paris Agreement and related international and transnational mechanisms 296

David Rossati and Alexander Zahar

 

16. The European Union’s implementation of the Paris Agreement 323

Gareth Davies

 

17. Large-scale carbon dioxide removal under the Paris Agreement: toward a principled approach 343

Neil Craik

 

18. Ensuring mutual supportiveness of the Paris Agreement with other multilateral environmental agreements: a focus on ocean-based climate action 362

Elisa Morgera and Mitchell Lennan

 

19. Social movements and the Paris Agreement: an imperfect vehicle for incremental change? 381

Cinnamon P. Carlarne and Keith H. Hirokawa

 

20. Beyond the Paris Agreement: need for new thinking to tackle the climate crisis 403

Philippe Cullet