The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement: Challenges of the Conference of the Parties

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze, within the scope of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, how the Conference of the Parties provides a new locus for discussion within the International Environmental Law. Increasing scientific evidence about the possibility of global climate change in the 1980s led to growing awareness that human activities have been contributing to substantial increases in the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. Concerned with it, on December 11, 1990, the 45th session of the un General Assembly adopted a resolution that established the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on Climate Change (INC/FCCC). It was the beginning of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and also the beginning of the establishment of the Conferences of the Parties, which is currently in its 25th edition. The Paris Agreement was negotiated at the 21st edition of the Conference of the Parties and is the central theme of this study because of its rel- evance in the context of emission reduction. The Paris Agreement was created in December 2015, and the work on climate change had just begun. The final text of the Paris Agreement addresses important topics. Nonetheless, the document lacks clarity on many subjects, which were intentionally left aside in order to reach consensus to finish the Paris Committee’s work. Considering this scenario and the challenges arising from this international treaty, the article analyzes the Conferences already held until the Paris Agreement. It also reviews the COP21 negotiations from 2015, taking into account a historical comprehension of the in- ternational concern over climate change, and the documents created by the Conference. Finally, this article discusses the developments and setbacks on the subject since 1997, and the objections made by interna- tional actors at the COP21 negotiations.