Sy19-20_2sem_cm655_ra01

POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES Open University

Document:

CM655

IRA

01

MS CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

N/A

COURSE

SUSTAINABILITY & BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING

Title:

PARIS AGREEMENT

PARIS AGREEMENT

By Benje A. Capistrano

An Individual Research and Assignment (IRA) in partial fulfillment of the requirements of Sustainability & Building Information Modelling

December 7, 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………………….1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………… …2 Objective…………………………………………………………………………………………… …3 How it starts …………………………………………………………………………………………..3 What are the issues…………………………………………………………………………………..4 The Paris Agreement and Trump…………………………………………………………..5 Tackling Climate Change……………………………………………………………………6 What is the next step towards the implementation of the Paris Agreement.................6 What are the most significant aspects about the new agreement……………………...6 Why we need action…………………………………………………………………………7 A race we can win……………………………………………………………………………7 Katowice Climate Conference………………………………………………………………8 Agreement Tracker …………………………………………………………………………………11 Difference between adopting, signing and joining the Paris Agreement……………..11 Steps countries need to take in order to “join” the Paris Agreement………………….12 Can a Party that agreed to adopt the Paris Agreement decide not to join?.............. 13 Why are only Parties to the UNFCCC able to join the Paris Agreement?..................14 Where do the emissions data come from?.................................................................14 What is the difference between ratification, acceptance and approval?....................14 What is accession?....................................................................................................15 How do countries “deposit” an instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession?.................................................................................................................15 If the Paris Agreement enters into a force early, will key decisions have to be made at the first CMA?............................................................................................................18 References…………………………………………………………………………………………..20

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INTRODUCTION At COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015, Parties to the UNFCCC reached a landmark agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future. The Paris Agreement builds upon the Convention and – for the first time – brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it charts a new course in the global climate effort. The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Additionally, the agreement aims to increase the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change, and at making finance flows consistent with a low GHG emissions and climate-resilient pathway. To reach these ambitious goals, appropriate mobilization and provision of financial resources, a new technology framework and enhanced capacity-building is to be put in place, thus supporting action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries, in line with their own national objectives. The Agreement also provides for an enhanced transparency framework for action and support.

The Paris Agreement requires all Parties to put forward their best efforts through “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. This includes requirements that all Parties report regularly on their emissions and on their implementation efforts. There will also be a global stocktake every 5 years to assess the collective progress towards achieving the purpose of the agreement and to inform further individual actions by Parties.

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The Paris Agreement opened for signature on 22 April 2016 – Earth Day – at UN Headquarters in New York. It entered into force on 4 November 2016, 30 days after the so-called “double threshold” (ratification by 55 countries that account for at least 55% of global emissions) had been met. Since then, more countries have ratified and continue to ratify the Agreement, reaching a total of 125 Parties in early 2017. In order to make the Paris Agreement fully operational, a work programme was launched in Paris to develop modalities, procedures and guidelines on a broad array of issues. Since 2016, Parties work together in the subsidiary bodies (APA, SBSTA and SBI) and various constituted bodies. The Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) met for the first time in conjunction with COP 22 in Marrakesh (in November 2016) and adopted its first two decisions. The work programme is expected to be completed by 2018. – United Nations Climate Change, UNFCC.Int

Objective 1. To be familiarized with the Paris Agreement and to be aware with the global policies of countries achieving sustainable goals and addressing climate change. 2. To explore the underlying issues in the global climate change solutions by understanding the history of Paris Agreement, its current status, and its future. 3. To know what the Paris Agreement Tracker is and to know the current facts about the relevant terms and framework related to the agreement tracker.

How it start? The Paris Agreement is a landmark environmental accord that was adopted by nearly every nation in 2015 to address climate change and its negative impacts. The deal aims to

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substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to limit the global temperature increase in this century to 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, while pursuing means to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees. The agreement includes commitments from all major emitting countries to cut their climate-altering pollution and to strengthen those commitments over time. The pact provides a pathway for developed nations to assist developing nations in their climate mitigation and adaptation efforts, and it creates a framework for the transparent monitoring, reporting, and ratcheting up of countries’ individual and collective climate goals. Hammered out over two weeks in Paris during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) and adopted on December 12, 2015, the Paris Agreement marked an historic turning point for global climate action, as world leaders representing 195 nations came to a consensus on an accord that has commitments from all countries aimed at combating climate change and adapting to its impacts. President Obama was able to formally enter the United States into the agreement under international law through executive action, since it imposed no new legal obligations on the country. The United States has a number of tools already on the books, under laws already passed by Congress, to cut carbon pollution. The country formally joined the agreement in September 2016 after submitting its proposal for participation. The Paris Agreement could not take effect until at least 55 nations representing at least 55 percent of global emissions had formally joined. This happened on October 5, 2016, and the agreement went into force 30 days later on November 4, 2016.

What are the issues? At present, 197 countries—every nation on earth, with the last signatory being war-torn Syria— have adopted the Paris Agreement. Of those, 179 have solidified their climate proposals with

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formal approval—including the United States, for now. The only major emitting countries that have yet to formally join the agreement are Russia, Turkey, and Iran.

The Paris Agreement and Trump

Following through on a campaign promise, Trump—a climate denier who has claimed climate change is a “hoax” perpetrated by China—announced in June 2017 his intent to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. Yet notwithstanding the president’s declaration from the Rose Garden that “We’re getting out,” it’s not quite that easy. The process for withdrawing requires that the agreement be in force for three years before any country can formally announce its intention to drop out. Then it has to wait a year before actually leaving the pact. This means the earliest the United States could officially exit is November 4, 2020—a day after the presidential election. Even a formal withdrawal wouldn’t necessarily be permanent, experts say; a future president could rejoin in as short as a month’s time. Since Trump’s announcement, U.S. envoys have continued to participate—as mandated—in U.N. climate negotiations to solidify details of the agreement. Meanwhile, thousands of leaders nationwide have stepped in to fill the void created by the lack of federal climate leadership, reflecting the will of the vast majority of Americans who support the Paris Agreement. Among city and state officials, businesses leaders, universities, and private citizens, there has been a groundswell of participation in initiatives such as America’s Pledge, the United States Climate Alliance, We Are Still In, and the American Cities Climate Challenge. The complementary and sometimes overlapping movements aim to deepen and accelerate efforts to tackle climate change at the local, regional, and national levels. Each of these efforts is focused on keeping the United States working toward the goals of the Paris Agreement despite the attempts by Trump to take the country in the opposite direction.

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Tackling Climate Change

Goal 13 calls for urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. It is intrinsically linked to all 16 of the other Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To address climate change, countries adopted the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius.

What is the next step towards the implementation of the Paris Agreement?

The real action is happening at the country level, or even at the city or local level. It is there that governments and businesses are working to reduce their carbon emissions and to build climate resilience. The movement toward greater action is gaining momentum. At the international level, there is still the need to continue the momentum toward universal ratification of the agreement, as well as the adoption of rules to guide the implementation of the Agreement.

What are the most significant aspects about the new agreement?

The agreement provides a pathway forward to limit temperature rise to well below 2 degrees, maybe even 1.5. The agreement provides a mechanism to increase the level of ambition. The Paris Agreement is an ambitious, dynamic and universal agreement. It covers all countries and all emissions, and is designed to last. This is a monumental agreement. It solidifies international cooperation for climate change. It provides a way forward. The Paris Agreement sends a powerful signal to markets that now is the time to invest in the low emission economy. It contains a transparency framework to build mutual trust and confidence. It will serve as an important tool in mobilizing finance technological support and capacity building for developing

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countries. And it will also help to scale up global efforts to address and minimize loss and damage from climate change. Paris is a beginning—we now have to implement the Agreement. But we have taken a giant step forward.

Why we need action

Climate change is now affecting every country on every continent. It is disrupting national economies and affecting lives, costing people, communities and countries dearly today and even more tomorrow. People are experiencing the significant impacts of climate change, which include changing weather patterns, rising sea level, and more extreme weather events. The greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are driving climate change and continue to rise. They are now at their highest levels in history. Without action, the world’s average surface temperature is projected to rise over the 21st century and is likely to surpass 3 degrees Celsius this century—with some areas of the world expected to warm even more. The poorest and most vulnerable people are being affected the most.

A race we can win

Affordable, scalable solutions are now available to enable countries to leapfrog to cleaner, more resilient economies. The pace of change is quickening as more people are turning to renewable energy and a range of other measures that will reduce emissions and increase adaptation efforts. But climate change is a global challenge that does not respect national borders. Emissions anywhere affect people everywhere. It is an issue that requires solutions that need to be coordinated at the international level and it requires international cooperation to help developing countries move toward a low-carbon economy. To address climate change, countries adopted the Paris Agreement at the COP21 in Paris on 12 December 2015. The Agreement entered into force less than a year later. In the agreement, all countries agreed to work to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, and given the grave

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risks, to strive for 1.5 degrees Celsius. Implementation of the Paris Agreement is essential for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and provides a roadmap for climate actions that will reduce emissions and build climate resilience.

Katowice Climate Conference It took long and difficult negotiations to reach agreement on the agreed ‘Katowice Climate Package’ but in the end, countries agreed on a set of guidelines for implementing the landmark 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement. In Katowice, countries stressed “the urgency of enhanced ambition in order to ensure the highest possible mitigation and adaptation efforts by all Parties.” Katowice was a major step forward for operationalizing the Paris Agreement. The Agreement, adopted in December 2015 and now joined by 184 countries, aims to limit global warming to well under 2°C, or even 1°5C this century. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, “Katowice has shown once more the resilience of the Paris Agreement – our solid roadmap for climate action. The approval of the Paris Agreement Work Programme is the basis for a transformative process which will require strengthened ambition from the international community. Science has clearly shown that we need enhanced ambition to defeat climate change.” The Katowice package includes guidelines that will operationalize the transparency framework. It sets out how countries will provide information about their Nationally Determined Contributions—the plans developed by each country that describes their domestic climate actions. This information includes mitigation and adaptation measures as well as details of financial support for climate action in developing countries.

What, When and Where is COP24?

Since the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted in 1992, parties have met at least once a year to further the implementation of the Convention. This year, the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change--

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COP 24--will take place in Katowice, Poland from 2-14 December. Parties to the Kyoto Protocol will also meet. The Katowice Conference will mark the third anniversary of the adoption of the Paris Agreement, which was agreed to in 2015.

Why is COP 24 so important?

COP24 must unleash the full potential of the Paris Agreement by finalizing the Paris Agreement Work Programme. This will put into place the practical implementation guidelines needed to track progress and ensure that climate action is transparent. This in turn will build trust and send a signal that governments are serious about addressing climate change. COP24 also needs to establish a clear way forward on climate finance to ensure greater support for climate action in developing countries.

What should COP 24 accomplish?

What countries say in Poland will determine climate efforts and action for years to come. With high-level events, panel discussions and roundtables, COP24 should address three main issues: the rules and procedures for how countries will meet their commitments, how climate action will be financed, and “ambition"—what countries may be willing to do to exceed their Paris emissions-cutting commitments when they’re updated in 2020. The Paris Agreement Work Programme will make the Paris Agreement fully operational by unlocking ambitious action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, to adapt to the impacts of climate change, and to empower developing countries.

Why is it so urgent to limit global warming to 1.5°C?

In early October, the special report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that the world is already witnessing the consequences of 1°C of global warming.

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There is already more extreme weather, rising sea levels and diminishing Arctic sea ice, among other changes. Every bit of additional warming brings greater risks. There are clear benefits to limiting warming to 1.5°C compared to 2°C: 420 million fewer people being exposed to severe heat waves, survival of some tropical coral reefs, loss of fewer plants and animal species, and the protection of forests and wetland habitats.

Why will there be a 2019 Climate Summit?

In September 2019, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres will convene a climate summit to mobilize political and economic efforts at the highest level possible to strengthen climate action and ambition worldwide. Even if all the commitments made by countries for the Paris Agreement are achieved, the world will still be on a course to warm by more than 3°C this century. In advance of the 2020 deadline for countries to raise their commitments in their national climate plans, the Summit will focus on practical initiatives to limit emissions and build climate resilience. The Summit will focus on driving action in six areas; namely, energy transition, climate finance and carbon pricing, industry transition, nature-based solutions, cities and local action, and resilience.

What is Paris Agreement Tracker? The Paris Agreement Tracker allows users to track which Parties have signed or joined the Paris Agreement so far. It shows the following:

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What is the difference between adopting, signing and joining the Paris Agreement? What is the significance of each? The Paris Agreement – like most other international agreements -- goes through three stages before coming into effect: adoption, signing and joining. The Paris Agreement was adopted on December 12, 2015 at COP21 in Paris, France by the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

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(UNFCCC). According to the Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties, adoption is the formal act that establishes the form and content of an agreement. By adopting the Paris Agreement, each of the Parties agreed to the text of the Paris Agreement. This does not mean that Parties to the UNFCCC automatically become Parties to the Paris Agreement. The next step is for Parties to sign the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement will be open for signature at the UN in New York from April 22, 2016 to April 21, 2017. Signing is important because it indicates a commitment by that country to refrain from acts that would defeat the object and purpose of the Agreement. After signing, Parties then formally join the Paris Agreement. This can be done by depositing one of several types of instruments with the Secretary-General to the UN – instruments of “ratification, acceptance or approval.” There is no time limit for when countries submit these instruments. A country might deposit its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval on the same day it signs, or submit it separately much later. If a country hasn’t signed in the one year timeframe, it can join the Paris Agreement later by submitting an instrument of “accession.” What steps do countries need to take in order to “join” the Paris Agreement? A country’s ability to join the agreement is conditional on obtaining the required domestic approval for joining the Agreement. The nature of this domestic approval depends on each individual country’s national constitution and legal framework. For example, in Australia, the only requirement is notification and introduction of the agreement in Parliament, whereas in Mexico, the consent of the Senate is also required.

In the United States, international

agreements can be joined in a number of different ways, including through the authority of the President, particularly when an agreement is consistent with existing US law. In addition to receiving domestic approval to join the Paris Agreement, in some cases countries may also need to enact national legislation to implement the Agreement. Whether a

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country needs to do this will depend on the nature of its existing legislation and regulatory framework. When a country fulfills its necessary domestic processes, it can deposit its instrument of “ratification, acceptance or approval” indicating its consent to be bound by the agreement. This is a formal document indicating that it has completed all necessary processes and can now join the Agreement as a Party. Can a Party that agreed to adopt the Paris Agreement at COP 21 decide not to join? Technically, yes. Adopting the Paris Agreement does not require any individual country to subsequently join it as a Party. However, in the case of the Paris Agreement, it appears likely that most Parties will join for a few reasons. First, the Paris Agreement was the result of five years of extensive negotiations between all the Parties. The purpose of these negotiations was to develop a text that could be joined and subsequently implemented by all Parties. Second, the Paris Agreement received a significant degree of political support at all levels of government. Over 150 Heads of State attended COP21 (the largest ever to attend a UN event). Third, 189 countries (representing 190 Parties to the UNFCCC) have already submitted national climate plans (known as INDCs) to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Domestic efforts to implement these national climate plans are already underway. How does the Paris Agreement enter into force? In accordance with Article 21 of the Paris Agreement, the Agreement enters into force “on the thirtieth day after the date on which at least 55 Parties to the Convention accounting in total for at least an estimated 55 percent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession.” Why are only Parties to the UNFCCC able to join the Paris Agreement? The Paris Agreement is considered to be “under” the UNFCCC. The UNFCCC is a framework convention, which is relatively common in international environmental law. Framework conventions set out the broad parameters of a regime, including the objectives, core principles,

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broad commitments from its parties and a general system of governance, and leave the detailed rules and processes of meeting the objectives to subsequent agreements. This ensures that all Parties to the Paris Agreement are also operating within the parameters set by the UNFCCC. The Kyoto Protocol, the international agreement that preceded the Paris Agreement, was also “under” the UNFCCC, though its provisions differed considerably from those in the Paris Agreement. Where do the emissions data come from? For the purposes of determining entry into force, Article 21 of the Paris Agreement provides that the UNFCCC Secretariat will publish a list of the most up-to-date emissions data communicated by Parties. For many Parties, the percentage of emissions contained in this table does not reflect their current emissions. This is because developing countries have only recently been required to report their national emissions on a regular basis. This will change under the Paris Agreement, with all countries being required to regularly provide a national inventory report of emissions. What is the difference between ratification, acceptance and approval? According to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, “ratification” defines the international act whereby a country indicates its consent to be bound to an international agreement. Ratification is evidenced by depositing an instrument of ratification with the depository. This gives Parties the necessary time to seek approval of the agreement domestically and to enact any necessary national legislation to give domestic effect to that agreement. Instruments of "acceptance" or "approval" of an agreement have the same legal effect as ratification and consequently express the consent of a country to be bound by an agreement. Based on their national Constitutions, some countries accept or approve an agreement rather than ratify.

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What is accession? "Accession" is where a country becomes a party to an international agreement that has already been negotiated and signed by other countries. It has the same legal effect as ratification, acceptance and approval. Accession usually occurs after the agreement has entered into force, but can occur beforehand also depending on the terms of the agreement. Under the Paris Agreement, any Parties who are unable to sign during the one-year signing period from April 22 2016 to April 21 2017 will be able to join by depositing an instrument of accession. For example, this is how the State of Palestine joined the UNFCCC on December 18 this year. For a complete list of Parties and their method of joining, see the UNFCCC’s page, Status of Ratification of the Convention. How do countries “deposit” an instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession? Countries “deposit” their instruments with the Secretary General, who has been appointed by the Paris Agreement as the “Depository.” The instruments themselves are documents signed by the Head of State that declare that the Government has considered the relevant agreement, either ratifies, accepts, approves or accedes to it and undertakes to faithfully perform and carry out its terms. As the Depository, the Secretary-General is responsible for accepting the instruments and monitoring the number of Parties and their respective emissions for the purposes of determining entry into force. This information will also be publically available on the UNFCCC website. Why do some countries need to obtain domestic approval to join the Paris Agreement? A number of different processes exist for countries to obtain domestic approval to join the Agreement. National law, most commonly a national constitution, governs who has what authority and the procedure that must be followed. The authority to approve joining an international agreement may rest with: Executive only; Executive only, but administrative

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procedures such as legislative notification are also required; A majority of one house of the legislature; A super-majority in one body or majority in two separate legislative bodies; For many countries, authority to enter into international agreements is split between the executive (Head of State, Cabinet or Council) and the legislature (Parliament). For these countries, typically a Head of State is authorized to negotiate and sign an international agreement, but must seek the approval of the national legislature (or Parliament) before formally joining the agreement. Some countries apply different approval processes depending on the nature of the international agreement. For instance, agreements with major political importance for the country (e.g. peace treaties) can require legislature approval but other agreements only executive approval. These different domestic approval processes don’t always determine the length of time until approval occurs, but can determine the amount of political will and public support needed to ensure that joining can occur quickly. In addition to individual countries, it is necessary to separately consider how the European Union will join the agreement. The EU will likely have to act jointly with its 28 member states. In addition to each individual member state completing their domestic approval processes, the Council of Ministers, with the consent of the European Parliament, will also need to adopt a decision to ratify. This could take a couple of years to ensure the necessary effort sharing agreements are in place between the EU member states. Past practice indicates that the EU and its member states will likely deposit their instruments of ratification at the same time. Why is the European Union a separate signatory to its 28 member states? The European Union is a regional economic integration organization for the purposes of the UNFCCC, and subsequently the Paris Agreement. Each of the European Union’s 28 member states is also a Party to the UNFCCC. Accordingly, the European Union must formally join the Paris Agreement in addition to each of its member states. See previous question for how the European Union may join the Agreement. Although not a requirement – it is very likely that the

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European Union and its 28 member states will deposit their instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval on the same day or in the days or weeks following the European Union. This was the case for both the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. What is the earliest the Paris Agreement could enter into force? Under Article 21 of the Paris Agreement, entry into force thirty days after the date the double threshold (at least 55 Parties representing at least 55 percent of global emissions) is met. It is not possible to accurately predict when the Agreement will enter into force, as it depends both on how quickly countries are able to complete their domestic approval processes, as well as political will to do so. If both conditions for entry into force are met by 7 October this year, the Paris Agreement would enter into force on 6 November 2016, meaning that the first session of the Conference of the Parties to the Paris Agreement would take place in conjunction with COP22 in Morocco at the end of this year. This may not occur, however, as many Parties will need time to complete their respective domestic approval processes. What if a Party doesn’t join the Paris Agreement, can they still participate in the UNFCCC? Yes. Whether or not a Party also joins the Paris Agreement does not affect its rights and obligations under the UNFCCC. Meetings of the COP to the UNFCCC will still continue every year in conjunction with meetings of the COP to the Paris Agreement. What if the Paris Agreement enters into force before a Party can join? How will they participate in decision making? Once the Paris Agreement enters into force, those countries which have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval will be considered Parties to the Agreement. Parties to the Agreement will enjoy the rights and privileges under the Agreement and be subject to their obligations under the Agreement. It is only Parties to the Agreement that are responsible for governance, oversight, and decision-making.

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Once the Agreement enters into force, the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (referred to as the “CMA”) will occur in conjunction with the next COP under the UNFCCC. If the Paris Agreement enters into force relatively early, this could mean that only a small number (55 and over) of countries are considered Parties at the first session of the CMA. Countries that have not yet joined the Paris Agreement may participate in sessions of the CMA as observers but will not be able to participate in any final decision-making. This right is reserved for Parties to the Agreement. However, the practice of the UNFCCC has been one of inclusiveness for observers. Parties to the UNFCCC that had not joined the Kyoto Protocol were still able to participate in discussions throughout negotiations, including making interventions and submitting textual proposals on drafts under consideration. It is likely that a similar process will be followed under the Paris Agreement. If the Paris Agreement enters into force early, will key decisions have to be made at the first CMA? In the lead up to COP 21, many observers expected that the Paris Agreement would enter force after 2020, in accordance with the mandate of the ADP. However, Article 21 of the Paris Agreement does not provide a date when the Agreement will enter into force. As a result, entry into force it depends on how quickly countries are able to complete their domestic approval processes. It is likely that the Paris Agreement will enter into force well before 2020. Many of the provisions of the Paris Agreement continue to reflect the initial expectation that the Agreement will enter into force in 2020 and that the first meeting of the Parties to the Agreement also wouldn’t occur until 2020. If the Agreement enters into force early, many of the tasks required to be adopted by the Parties at the first CMA would not be completed. While the deadlines contained in the COP decisions could be extended by subsequent decisions of the COP (i.e. at COP22), the timelines agreed within the Paris Agreement itself are more

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difficult to change and revisiting them would run the risk of opening up negotiations on the Agreement text again. One possible procedural solution would be to suspend, rather than close, the first meeting of the Paris Agreement, so that Parties have the time needed to negotiate the large number of modalities, guidelines and procedures required and ensure compliance with the Paris Agreement. This would also provide an opportunity for all Parties to join the Agreement before final decisions were taken (see previous question for more detail). Suspending the first meeting would mean that the first meeting could continue for more than one year, or even for several years if needed, until the work is finished in accordance with the timeline already agreed by the Parties at COP21. There is already precedent for such procedural measures under the UNFCCC. The most noteworthy was COP6, which was suspended in 2000 due to Parties being unable to reach agreement on key issues; in that instance, the November COP at The Hague was suspended and resumed in July 2001, in Bonn, Germany (termed "COP 6 bis").There is also a more recent precedent for this in the ADP, which held only two sessions, each consisting of multiple parts over five years; the second session finally closed at COP21.

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REFERENCES Northrop, Eliza. “FAQs About How the Paris Agreement Enters into Force”. World Resources Institute.

Denchak, Melissa. “Paris Climate Agreement: Everything You need to Know”. NRDC. 12 December 2018

“History of UN Climate Talks”. Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

“Climate Action: Tackling Climate Change”. United Nations.

“Katowice Climate Conference”. United Nations.

“What is Paris Agreement?” United Nations Climate Change.

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