The ‘New’ Impacts of the Implementation of Climate Change Response Measures

One of the more politically sensitive elements of the Paris package (although one of the less well known) is how it addresses the negative impacts of mitigation action on economic development – also known as ‘response measures’. This article analyses the Paris outcome in the context of protracted discussions on response measures across the historical span of the climate negotiations. First, it charts the widening scope of the debate beyond the traditional concern of oil‐exporting developing countries about the negative economic impacts of decarbonization. Other developing countries have also raised concerns in relation to sectors such as agriculture and tourism, especially from trade‐related measures. Second, efforts at constructing an institutional space have had mixed results, finding deadlock on the appropriate structure for substantive discussions. The Paris Agreement marks a new phase in how response measures are treated in the global climate change governance architecture, reflecting the substantive and institutional evolution of the subject.