Implementing the Paris Agreement
At COP 21 in Paris on 12 December 2015 countries agreed to a new global deal to tackle climate change. In the lead up to the Paris summit the Institute carried out research on topics central to the eventual deal, including mechanisms for mobilising climate finance, embedding international climate legislation into national action and equity and differentiation between developed and developing countries.
Key publications:

Assessing the consistency of national mitigation actions in the G20 with the Paris Agreement
This study uses the ‘Paris consistency monitor’ to assess whether the past and present action by G20 countries on climate mitigation is consistent with meeting the key requirements … read more »

Climate policy in China, the European Union and the United States: Main drivers and prospects for the future
China, the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) are responsible for the majority of global emissions of greenhouse gases, and produce about half of global GDP. … read more »

The Paris Agreement and the new logic of international climate politics
This article reviews and assesses the outcome of the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP-21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), held in Paris in … read more »

Beyond the targets: assessing the political credibility of pledges for the Paris Agreement
This report provides the results of an analysis of “intended nationally determined contributions”, or INDCs, that were submitted by countries ahead of the Paris Agreement on climate change. read more »

Strengthening non-state climate action: a progress assessment of commitments launched at the 2014 UN Climate Summit
This report provides the first progress assessment of climate actions launched at the 2014 UN Climate Summit in New York. read more »

Intended nationally determined contributions: what are the implications for greenhouse gas emissions in 2030?
This analysis considers whether the INDCs that were submitted by 23 October 2015 are consistent with a reasonable chance of not exceeding the 2°C warming limit. read more »

The road to Paris and beyond
This paper shows that effective international cooperation can help the world develop along a 2°C pathway and adapt to the climatic changes already locked-in as a result of past and ongoing greenhouse gas emissions. read more »

Climate negotiations, sustainable development and growth – speech
Speech by Nicholas Stern at an event organised by the French government in Paris ahead of the climate change summit. read more »

Tracking intended nationally determined contributions: what are the implications for greenhouse gas emissions in 2030?
This paper looks at whether the intended national determined contributions (INDCs) that were submitted by 20 July 2015 are consistent with the 2°C limit. read more »

Nationally Self-Interested Climate Change Mitigation: A Unified Conceptual Framework
This paper finds that the vast majority of emissions cuts needed to decarbonise the global economy this century can lead to domestic economic benefits that outweigh the costs for individual countries, even before the avoided risks of dangerous climate change are taken into account. read more »

A minilateral solution for global climate change? On bargaining efficiency, club benefits and international legitimacy
This paper by Rober Falkner explores the the potential role that climate clubs might play in promoting global climate action. read more »

What will global annual emissions of greenhouse gases be in 2030, and will they be consistent with avoiding global warming of more than 2°C?
Countries agreed at the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP20) in Lima, Peru, in December 2014 to set out their “intended nationally determined contributions” (INDCs) … read more »

Understanding climate finance for the Paris summit in December 2015 in the context of financing for sustainable development for the Addis Ababa conference in July 2015
Paper asserts that overseas aid to support developing countries should be interwoven with efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. It claims that efforts to separate the two could be deeply damaging. read more »

The management of multilateral negotiations: lessons from UN climate negotiations
The 2009 Conference of Parties (COP 15) in Copenhagen, which aimed to deliver a first-ever comprehensive global climate deal, ended without agreement in part because of poor management … read more »

Post-2020 climate agreements in the major economies assessed in the light of global models
Integrated assessment models can help in quantifying the implications of international climate agreements and regional climate action. This paper reviews scenario results from model intercomparison projects to explore different possible … read more »

Taming the beasts of ‘burden-sharing’: an analysis of equitable mitigation actions and approaches to 2030 mitigation pledges
Countries are now seeking to reach a new international agreement on climate change, to be signed in Paris in December 2015. A key element of the international negotiations … read more »

Growth, climate and collaboration: towards agreement in Paris 2015
Paper explores 4 key elements on which an agreeement at the COP21 – Paris 2015 Climate Change talks could be based read more »

“This time is different”: The prospects for an effective climate agreement in Paris 2015
COP21, to be held in Paris at the end of 2015, presents an important opportunity for governments to negotiate a new international climate agreement. A question of central importance to preparations for COP21 is: what sort of policy architecture is most likely to generate sufficiently ambitious action to reduce global emissions? read more »


