Piecing the Paris Puzzle: Links and Gaps in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change

The 2015 Paris Agreement, which for the first time brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects,1 was negotiated piece by piece, rather than as a whole document. Small negotiating groups (called contact groups or informal groups) negotiated different elements of the Agreement, often operating in isolation from the others. From time to time, the Co-Chairs of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhance Action (ADP) (the body established to negotiate the Paris Agreement) would call a joint meeting to review progress. Even so, few (if any) negotiators had a clear overall picture of the Paris Agreement in its entirety during the negotiations.