In the lead-up to the climate conference in Glasgow, LRI has published two new briefing papers. Authored by two lawyers – one from the Global South, the other from the Global North, both with long-standing experience in the international climate negotiations – the papers address two issues that are of particularly important for the future implementation and the success of the Paris Agreement: compliance and the treaty’s goal on finance flows.

“Strengthening the compliance system for Nationally Determined Contributions” assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the current architecture of the oversight mechanisms of the Paris Agreement (under Articles 13 to 15). The Paris Agreement is primarily based on voluntary actions and good faith, but the flexible ‘bottom-up’ approach may not assure the necessary compliance to achieve lasting change. The paper suggests multiple ways to strengthen compliance domestically, within the Paris Agreement itself, and beyond to ensure that parties meet their emission mitigation targets.

The second briefing paper, “The Paris Agreement goal on finance flows”, addresses one of the three goals in Article 2 of the Paris Agreement. In addition to meeting the temperature goal and enhancing adaptive capacities, the treaty also aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate by “making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development” (Article 2.1.c).

The paper provides a comprehensive analysis of where and how finance flows are currently taken into account under the Paris Agreement, such as parties’ NDCs or Article 9.5. It identifies existing gaps, technical options to further develop the Article 2.1.c goal and highlights a range of national and transnational initiatives that should inform future decisions by the parties to the Paris Agreement.