Maximizing the potential of the Paris Agreement: Effective review in a hybrid regime

The hybrid model of international climate policy embodied in the Paris Agreement requires countries to regularly deliver their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and to progressively increase collective and individual efforts over time. To be effective, this type of regime requires international review processes that provide robust information about countries’ efforts to address climate change and the support they offer other countries to do so, as well as their future plans and trajectories. The regime must also provide substantial opportunities for state and non-state actor engagement with this information, as well as sharing of best practices.

The Paris Agreement creates three different review processes, but leaves critical details regarding each and their relation to each other to future decisions:

• • a review of implementation of individual NDCs under an “enhanced transparency framework” for action and support, comprising a technical expert review and multilateral consideration (Article 13).
• • a global stocktake every five years to assess collective progress towards achieving the purpose and long-term goals of the Agreement (Article 14), preceded by a mitigation-focused facilitative dialogue in 2018.
• • a mechanism to facilitate implementation and promote compliance through a committee that is expert-based, non-adversarial and non-punitive (Article 15).

It is essential for Parties to develop effective modalities, procedures and guidelines for each of these processes, ideally before the Paris Agreement enters into force. To this end, this discussion brief highlights essential considerations and, where possible, potential options for each process. The aim is to show what is at stake as the Parties negotiate the implementation of the Paris Agreement and, to clarify the questions that need to be resolved going forward.

Download the brief (PDF, 2.8MB)