Climate Change

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The Paris Agreement: A Rejoinder

February 16, 2016

In his analysis of the recently adopted Paris Agreement, Professor Jorge Viñuales shed light on the main features of this new treaty. He concludes that, while the Agreement is not perfect, it is certainly ‘more than many of those who have followed the climate negotiations over the years realistically expected.’ I cannot but agree with this assessment: the Paris Agreement is probably the best that could be achieved at this place and time and, given the premises, its adoption as a treaty last December was almost miraculous. This post expands upon a couple of points raised in his analysis, focusing on the legal form of the Paris Agreement, its relationship with the UNFCCC and on the nature of obligations concerning the review of parties’ commitments.

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The Paris Climate Agreement: An Initial Examination (Part III of III)

February 8, 2016

Editor's Note: This is the last post in a series (see Part I and Part II) featuring Professor Jorge Viñuales' analysis of the landmark December 2015 Paris Agreement. Professor Viñuales is the Harold Samuel Professor of Law and Environmental Policy at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law and the Director of the Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy,…

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The Paris Climate Agreement: An Initial Examination (Part II of III)

February 8, 2016

Editor's Note:  This is the second in a series of three posts that continues Professor Jorge Viñuales' analysis of the landmark December 2015 Paris Agreement.  Professor Viñuales is the Harold Samuel Professor of Law and Environmental Policy at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law and the Director of the Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy, and Natural Resource Governance (C-EENRG).

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The Paris Climate Agreement: An Initial Examination (Part I of III)

February 7, 2016

Editor's Note:  This is the first in a series of three posts analyzing the landmark December 2015 Paris Agreement, authored by Professor Jorge Viñuales, the Harold Samuel Professor of Law and Environmental Policy at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law and the Director of the Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy, and Natural Resource Governance (C-EENRG). Less is…

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A “Legally Binding Treaty” or Not? The Wrong Question for Paris Climate Summit

December 4, 2015

Both media and negotiators are spending an inordinate amount of time on whether the Paris climate summit starting this week should lead to a “legally binding treaty”. For the EU Commission, it “must be”. For US Secretary of State John Kerry “definitely not”. For realist scholars of international relations this obsession is puzzling. In…

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