Climate Finance in the Paris Outcome: Why Do Today What You Can Put Off Till Tomorrow
Review of European Community and International Environmental Law (RECIEL), Forthcoming
32 Pages Posted: 24 Mar 2016
Date Written: March 24, 2016
Abstract
The UN meeting in Paris resulting in a new treaty on climate change has been described as a major success in multilateral processes to address global challenges. Prior to the meeting, there were fair concerns as to the fate of the negotiations not least because of serious disagreements about climate financing provided by developed countries to developing countries. The Paris negotiations did not resolve these disagreements. The Paris Agreement simply formalized what was previously proposed in the Copenhagen Accord and subsequent decisions of parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. On divisive issues such as a new quantified goal for mobilising funds in the post-2020 period and transparency of climate finance, Parties avoided providing substantive solutions and instead established processes on negotiating them further. Importantly, however, these procedural decisions establish clear goals and deadlines. The successful adoption of the Paris Agreement is also significant as a symbolic milestone signalling to public and private entities on the global consensus for a low-carbon and climate resilient future.
Keywords: climate finance, climate law, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Paris Agreement
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