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Global Climate Governance

How nations cooperate to address a planetary challenge

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The Paris Agreement Architecture

Core Innovation: Bottom-up pledges + top-down accountability

Unlike Kyoto's top-down targets (which failed politically), Paris allows each country to set its own Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). But transparency rules, global stocktakes, and peer pressure create accountability.

📊 NDCs

Nationally Determined Contributions—each country's climate plan

Updated every 5 years, ratcheting up ambition over time

🔍 Transparency

Common reporting formats and technical expert review

Builds trust, enables accountability, prevents greenwashing

⚖️ Global Stocktake

Every 5 years, assess collective progress vs science

First stocktake (2023): major gaps, but foundation for ratcheting

🌐 National Climate Commitments Tracker

🇨🇳

China

11472 MtCO₂e/yr (30.9% global)

CAT Rating
Insufficient
NDC TARGET

Peak CO₂ before 2030, carbon neutral by 2060

Implementation Progress65%
✓ Key Policies
  • •National carbon market (launched 2021)
  • •Renewable energy expansion (1,200 GW by 2030)
  • •Coal consumption peak by 2025
  • •Green finance framework
⚠️ Key Challenges
  • •Coal dependency remains high
  • •Ambition gap to 1.5°C pathway
  • •Provincial implementation varies
  • •Limited transparency on progress
Source: Climate Action Tracker (2024). Ratings: Critically Insufficient | Highly Insufficient | Insufficient | Almost Sufficient | 1.5°C Compatible

Key Challenges in Global Cooperation

🌍 The Ambition Gap

Current NDCs put world on track for ~2.5-2.8°C warming—well above 1.5°C goal. Closing gap requires urgent ratcheting, especially from major emitters.

💰 Climate Finance

Developed countries committed $100B/year for developing nations (finally met in 2022). New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) negotiations ongoing—needs are trillions, not billions.

⚖️ Equity & Justice

Principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR): developed countries bear historical responsibility and greater capacity. Tensions between climate justice and geopolitical realities persist.

🔄 Loss & Damage

Breakthrough at COP27: dedicated fund for climate-induced losses in vulnerable nations. Governance, scale, and financing modalities still under negotiation.

🌐 Beyond UNFCCC: Polycentric Governance

Climate governance isn't just state-centric. Cities (C40), businesses (SBTI), investors (GFANZ), and civil society play crucial roles. This "polycentric" approach complements formal negotiations with bottom-up action and innovation.

Examples: Corporate net-zero pledges, subnational climate alliances, transnational initiatives like the Powering Past Coal Alliance