Advancing the Paris Agreement on Climate Change for Sustainable Development

This article introduces and analyses the sustainable development dimensions of the Paris Agreement on climate change. After nearly seventeen years of deadlock, 197 Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concluded a new international agreement at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP21) in Paris on 12 December 2015. The Treaty aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty. This article reviews the provisions and principles of the accord, focusing on its potential contributions to sustainable development, and on the opportunities for domestic legal and institutional reform.