Paris Agreement, climate law, voluntary commitments, non-state actors, judicialization, European Climate Law, carbon tax, international environmental law, climate governance
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Abstract
The Paris Agreement's voluntary architecture and lack of legally binding commitments raise concerns about its effectiveness, but it inspires internal policies and mobilizes non-state actors.
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[...] However, the Paris Agreement also innovates in its form: it does not provide for any sanctions or result-based obligations. It therefore relies on transparency, cooperation, and diplomatic pressure, in a voluntary framework based on the good faith of the different States. This choice highlightsisve thus of criticisms. How can one ensure the effectiveness of a treaty without sanctions? To what extent can law regulate commitments that rely on the good faith of States?isis more of a political register than a legal one? [...]
[...] In this tension between environmental ambition and legal limits, the Paris Agreement illustrates well the fragilities and possible evolutions of international environmental law. Therefore, can we really enforce climate commitments without direct legal constraints, and to what extent can the law evolve to overcome current obstacles? The analysis of this question then shows that while the Paris Agreement suffers from structural legal weaknesses it nonetheless opens up new avenues for effectiveness, notably through indirect mechanisms or complementary legal dynamics (II). [...]
[...] Environmental Law Climate change is a reality that societies must urgently adapt to. In fact, the effects of the greenhouse gas emissions are already being felt.isThe climate regulation affects all continents and all populations. DespiteisTherefore, in the face of this phenomenonglobal, the reductionThe response must be collective. It is in this context that the Paris Agreement on climate, adopted in 2015 during COP21, was considered one of the most ambitious instruments of international environmental law. Ratified by 196 States, this treaty aims to contain the rise of the global temperatureglobal temperature less than 2°C, compared to pre-industrial levels. [...]
[...] Article 9 of the [...]
[...] It can encourage, alert, suggest but it cannot constrain. In short, the Paris Agreement relies on the voluntary commitments of its signatories, which are not legally binding.isand more of soft law than of hard international law, which significantly limits its effectiveness as an independent legal instrument. The political and economic uncertainties undermining theuniversalityis of theagreement Beyond its internal legal characteristics, the Paris Agreement is faced with an unstable geopolitical environment, which revealsisreveals the entire fragility of its voluntary architecture. Recent events clearly show this, as in 2025, the United States announced their second withdrawal from theAgreement, afters and having joined in 2015, left in 2017 under the Trump administration, then re-joined in 2021 with Joe Biden. [...]
