The legal character of the Paris agreement

Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law

Volumn 25, Issue 2, 2016, Pages 142-150

  Bodansky, Daniel ^a  

^a ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION; FINANCE; INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT; INTERNATIONAL LAW;

EID: 84975181655     PISSN: 20500386     EISSN: 20500394     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/reel.12154     Document Type: Article

References (35)

1. J.L. Goldsmith and E.A. Posner, The Limits of International Law (Oxford University Press, 2005).
2. F. Sindico, ‘Is the Paris Agreement Really Binding’, Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance, Policy Brief No. 03/2015 (2015).
3. A.-M. Slaughter, ‘The Paris Approach to Global Governance’, Project-Syndicate (28 December 2015), found at: https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/paris-agreement-model-for-globalgovernance-by-anne-marie-slaughter-2015-12.
4. R. Falk, ‘Voluntary International Law and the Paris Agreement’ (16 January 2016), found at: https://richardfalk.wordpress.com/2016/01/16/voluntary-international-law-and-the-paris-agreement/.
5. J. Goldstein et al. (eds.), Legalization and World Politics (MIT Press, 2001)
6. D. Bodansky, The Art and Craft of International Environmental Law (Harvard University Press, 2009), Chapter 5
7. R. Stavins et al., ‘International Cooperation: Agreements and Instruments’, in: O. Edenhofer et al. (eds.), Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Cambridge University Press, 2014), 1001.
8. D.G. Victor, K. Raustiala and E.B. Skolnikoff (eds.), The Implementation and Effectiveness of International Environmental Commitments: Theory and Practice (MIT Press, 1998), at 18.
9. H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law (Oxford University Press, 1994).
10. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (New York, 9 May 1992; in force 21 March 1994) (‘UNFCCC’).
11. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (Vienna, 23 May 1969; in force 27 January 1980), Article 26.
12. D. Bodansky, ‘The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: A Commentary’, 18:2 Yale Journal of International Law (1993), 451, at 516–517.
13. UNFCCC, Decision 1/CP.1, The Berlin Mandate: Review of the Adequacy of Article 4, Paragraph 2(a) and (b), of the Convention, Including Proposals Related to a Protocol and Decisions on Follow-Up (UN Doc. FCCC/CP/1995/7/Add.1, 6 June 1995), at paragraph 2(a).
14. UNFCCC, Geneva Ministerial Declaration (UN Doc. FCCC/CP/1996/15/Add.1, Annex, 29 October 1996), at paragraph 8.
15. Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Kyoto, 11 December 1997; in force 16 February 2005).
16. UNFCCC, Decision 1/CP.13, Bali Action Plan (UN Doc. FCCC/CP/ 2007/6/Add.1, 14 March 2008).
17. J. Werksman and K. Herbertson, ‘The Legal Character of National Actions and Commitments in the Copenhagen Agreement: Options and Implications’ (World Resources Institute, 2009).
18. D. Bodansky, ‘The Copenhagen Conference: A Post-Mortem’, 104:2 American Journal of International Law (2010), 230, at 232-233.
19. UNFCCC, Decision 1/CP.16, The Cancun Agreements: Outcome of the Work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action under the Convention (UN Doc. FCCC/CP/2010/7/Add.1, 15 March 2011).
20. UNFCCC, Decision 1/CP.17, Establishment of an Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (UN Doc. FCCC/CP/2011/9/Add.1, 15 March 2012).
21. L. Rajamani, ‘The Durban Platform for Enhanced Action and the Future of the Climate Regime’, 61:2 International and Comparative Law Quarterly (2012), 501, at 507.
22. UNFCCC, n. 11 above, Article 17.2.
23. Vienna Convention, n. 12 above, Article 2.1(a). The author helped organize the Mont Pelerin meeting and his observations about the meeting are based on his personal experience. A subsequent meeting of legal experts at the University of Stockholm in May 2015, in which the author also participated, reached similar conclusions.
24. Paris Agreement (Paris, 12 December 2015; not yet in force), Article 20.
25. D. Bodansky, n. 7 above, at 76.
26. D. Bodansky, n. 13 above, at 516–517.
27. UNFCCC, Decision 1/CP.21, Adoption of the Paris Agreement (UN Doc. FCCC/CP/2015/10, Add.1, 29 January 2016).
28. Jutta Brunnee, ‘COPing with Consent: Law-Making under Multilateral Environmental Agreements’, 15:1 Leiden Journal of International Law (2002), 1 (arguing that COPs have wider law-making authority).
29. K. W. Abbott and D. Snidal, ‘Hard and Soft Law in International Governance’, 54:3 International Organization (2000), 421.
30. K. Raustiala, ‘Form and Substance in International Agreements’, 99:3 American Journal of International Law (2005), 581-592.
31. T.M. Franck, The Power of Legitimacy among Nations (Oxford University Press, 1990).
32. B.A. Simmons, Mobilizing for Human Rights: International Law in Domestic Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2009).
33. R. Stavins et al., n. 7 above.
34. E.B. Schlager, ‘A Hard Look at Compliance with “Soft” Law: The Case of the OSCE’, in: D. Shelton (ed.), Commitment and Compliance: The Role of Non-binding Norms in the International Legal System (Oxford University Press, 2003), 346.
35. D. Bodansky, Legal Options for U.S. Acceptance of a New Climate Change Agreement (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, 2015).