Rights statement: The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Energy and Environment, 27 (8), 2016, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2016 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Energy and Environment page: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/eae on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/
Accepted author manuscript, 299 KB, PDF document
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - What does the Paris Agreement actually do?
AU - Campbell, Ian David
N1 - The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Energy and Environment, 27 (8), 2016, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2016 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Energy and Environment page: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/eae on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/
PY - 2016/12
Y1 - 2016/12
N2 - Though very widely believed to be inadequate in the target it sets, the Paris Agreement is commonly thought actually to set a binding target of reducing global CO2e emissions so as to limit global warming to 2℃. Proper legal interpretation of the Agreement shows it to set no such target. It rather gives the newly industrialising countries such as China and India a permission to emit as much as they see fit. These countries have been principally responsible for the huge growth in emissions since 1990 and they will be responsible for their continued huge growth until 2030. The Paris Agreement therefore makes the policy of mitigation of global warming impossible. However, this policy has been impossible over the whole of the now more than a quarter century of international climate change policy.
AB - Though very widely believed to be inadequate in the target it sets, the Paris Agreement is commonly thought actually to set a binding target of reducing global CO2e emissions so as to limit global warming to 2℃. Proper legal interpretation of the Agreement shows it to set no such target. It rather gives the newly industrialising countries such as China and India a permission to emit as much as they see fit. These countries have been principally responsible for the huge growth in emissions since 1990 and they will be responsible for their continued huge growth until 2030. The Paris Agreement therefore makes the policy of mitigation of global warming impossible. However, this policy has been impossible over the whole of the now more than a quarter century of international climate change policy.
KW - Global emissions reductions
KW - international climate change law
KW - Paris Agreement
U2 - 10.1177/0958305X16675524
DO - 10.1177/0958305X16675524
M3 - Journal article
VL - 27
SP - 883
EP - 895
JO - Energy and Environment
JF - Energy and Environment
SN - 0958-305X
IS - 8
ER -