Addressing climate change: Lessons from Paris, Challenges for Marrakech

What is your assessment of the Paris agreement reach during COP21? What is the most positive/negative aspect?

The agreement is a welcome and “historical” development at a time when there was very little hope of reaching one before the Paris Summit. One could easily say that when everybody was expecting the “lowest hanging fruit” – to the extent that some even feared a breakdown in talks as had happened during the Copenhagen Summit – the Paris agreement brought a new lease of life and hope to the international climate negotiations/regime. I believe the fact that it was a great diplomatic success itself is the biggest positive takeaway from the agreement. It provides enough room for nation states to negotiate and interpret the agreement and implement their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). About the agreement itself, perhaps both the goals of restricting the temperature rise to 1.5 degree Celsius (a new target) and “net zero emissions” between 2050 and 2100 are quite remarkable. Apart from these ambitious targets, the Paris agreement has also ensured that every actor/stakeholder has now a set agenda and rules to go by when it comes to future climate action. It looked like for the first time, there was clear consensus on the need for scaling up ambition…