Published by
Ricardo EE
Year
2015

Implementing the Paris Climate Agreement. Turning Action Plans into Achievement

By the end of the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris in December 2015, nations from around the world will have made a collective commitment to limit the increase in global temperatures to less than 2°C.

They will also have set out their own contributions in the form of targets, policies and actions, framed as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) submitted prior to the COP. While the aggregate impact of these INDCs is unlikely to meet the agreed temperature limit, all countries will share a common goal – transforming their climate action plans into results. However, committing to plans is easier than acting on them. And the hardest part of all is achieving them. How should countries ensure they have the best chance of turning their commitments not only into action, but also into achievement?

Ahead of COP21 in Paris Ricardo Energy & Environment has supported over 15 countries, with a combined population of more than 500 million, in preparing their climate action plans.

In this paper, the International Director, Chris Dodwell, describes five essential pillars of implementation which will maximise the chance of turning commitment and action into what countries, and the planet, really want – achievement of their climate goals.