Riflessioni critiche sull’accordo di Parigi sui cambiamenti climatici

The conclusion of the Paris Agreement (December 2015) and its rapid entry into force (November 2016) represent a milestone in the evolutionary process of international climate change law. The present article recalls the long negotiating process which led to the adoption of the new Agreement in Paris. Then, it provides a detailed analysis of the main features of the Agreement. The analysis is divided into two main parts. In the first part, it focuses on three selected general questions, those relating to its legal character, its differentiated obligations for the parties and its bottom-up nature. In the second part, the focus shifts to the analysis of some more specific legal features of the Agreement, such as those related to its general objective, to the nationally intended contributions of the parties, to the role of market instruments for its implementation, to the adaptation issue, to the financial support for developing countries, to the enhanced transparency framework as well as to the compliance mechanism for monitoring its correct implementation by the parties. A few remarks are then devoted to the connection contained in the Paris Agreement with human rights protection, the integrity of the ecosystems and the promotion of sustainable development. There follows a final evaluation of the Paris Agreement, in the light of its specific contribution to the on-going evolution of international environmental law from a top-down to a bottom-up approach.