Wolfgang Obergassel, Christof Arens, Christiane Beuermann, Victoria Brandemann, Lukas Hermwille, Nicolas Kreibich, Meike Spitzner, Hanna Wang-Helmreich

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 15 (2021), Issue 3, Page 211 - 220

Wolfgang Obergassel, Christof Arens, Christiane Beuermann, Victoria Brandemann, Lukas Hermwille, Nicolas Kreibich, Hermann E. Ott, Meike Spitzner

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 15 (2021), Issue 4, Page 271 - 281

The Glasgow climate conference marked a symbolic juncture, lying half-way between the adoption of the UNFCCC in 1992 and the year 2050 in which according to the IPCC special report on the 1.5°C limit net zero CO2 emissions need to be reached, globally, in order to maintain a good chance of achieving the 1.5°C limit. This article undertakes an assessment of what the UNFCCC and in particular the Paris Agreement and its implementation process have actually achieved so far up to and including the results of the Glasgow conference. The article discusses efforts at ambition raising both within and outside the formal diplomatic process, the finalization of the implementation rules of the Paris Agreement, as well as progress on gender responsiveness, climate finance, adaptation and loss and damage. In summary, the Paris Agreement and its implementation can be considered a success as it is having a discernible impact on the behavior of parties as well as on non-party actors. However, significant further efforts will be required to actually achieve the objectives of the Agreement.

Wolfgang Obergassel, Christof Arens, Christiane Beuermann, Lukas Hermwille, Nicolas Kreibich, Hermann E Ott, Meike Spitzner

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 14 (2020), Issue 1, Page 3 - 17

Last year's conference of the global climate change regime took place from 2 until 15 December 2019 in Madrid, Spain. Despite marking a new record for overtime in the history of the UNFCCC, the conference did not only fail to meet the increasing public demand for swift and strong climate action, it also failed on its formal mandate to finalise the Paris rulebook. A record number of issues were left unresolved and shelved for the next session. COP25 thereby highlighted how much work still lies ahead both domestically and internationally if 2020 is to see a step-up in climate action that is consistent with the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement.