CLIMATEUNDERSTANDING
THE RULEBOOKOF THE P RIS
AGREEMENT—SUMMARY—
4

THE IMPLEMENTATION RULES
THE RULEBOOK, WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
6

AMBITION
8

TOOLS
10

IMPLEMENTATION—WHAT ARE
COP FOR?
------

COP are the Conferences of the Parties (signatory states) to theUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
These are important political events that bring together 197 States.
COP highlight the challenge of States' efforts to reduce national
greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change.
They take place annually and allow the necessary decisions to betaken to ensure the implementation of the UNFCCC arrangements.
COP also monitor the implementation of decisions taken at national
level at national level.
But COP are not only for States, quite the contrary! They offer a spacefor meeting and exchanging views on climate issues with all
stakeholders in society: States, cities, local authorities, companies,
associations, civil society, etc. COP remind us that collective andindividual actions must be combined so that we can respond to thisglobal challenge.
In 2015, COP21 was an important milestone with the adoption of theParis Agreement, which defends an ambitious and necessary objective:
to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C
and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. COP24
resulted in rules for the implementation of the Paris Agreement in 2020.

CLIMAT - Understanding the implementation rules of the Paris Agreement

4

THE
IMPLEMENTATIONRULESWHAT IS IT ABOUT ?
The Paris Agreement was adopted on 12 December 2015 at
COP21. It constitutes a genuine international action plan tofight climate change. To achieve the objectives of the Paris
Agreement, the Parties shall:
undertake rapid reductions in their emissions and achieve greenhousegas neutrality by the second half of the century at the latest;
l strengthen States' capacity to adapt to the adverse effects of climatechange by enhancing resilience and ensure low greenhouse gas (GHG)
emission development, in a way that does not threaten food production;l align financial flows with low GHG emissions and resilient development.
l

The Agreement provides mechanisms to achieve these objectives:
adoption by States of national action plans, regular reporting on theirefforts, financial support to developing countries, global stocktakes.
To date, 185 States have ratified the Paris Agreement.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC) is responsible for developing the modalities and guidelines
for the functioning of the Paris Agreement.
This set of implementation rules constitutes the Work Programme of
the Paris Agreement or Rulebook. Initiated at COP22 in Bonn in May
2016, the work was finalised at COP24, which took place from 3 to
14 December 2018 in Katowice, Poland.

GLOSSARY
UNFCCCThe United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
was adopted during the Earth
Summit in Rio de Janeiro in1992. It aims to put in place acomprehensive framework toaddress the challenge of climatechange. The Convention iscurrently ratified by 197
countries. Countries that ratify
it are called Parties to theConvention.
COP

The Conference of the Parties is
the supreme decision-making
body of the UNFCCC. It meetsannually to negotiate andmonitor the implementationof the Convention.
Greenhouse gases (GHGs)

These are gases produced bynatural or human-induced(anthropogenic) processes that
contribute to maintaining heatin the Earth's atmosphere.
IPCC

RULEBOOK :18

DECISIONS
and 130 pages

PARIS
AGREEMENT:

185
PARTIEShave ratified of 197 Parties
to the Convention

The Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change (IPCC) is
responsible for assessing thestate of knowledge on climatechange, its causes and impacts
and can make recommendations.
The IPCC reports provide aregular overview of the current
state of knowledge. Thesepublications are at the heartof international climate
negotiations.

OBJECTIVESOF THE PARIS AGREEMENTON MITIGATION, ADAPTATION AND FINANCETOOLSAMBITION

IMPLEMENTATION

Compliance Committee
Cooperation mechanisms
Forum on response
measuresNationally determined
Contribution (NDC)
Adaptation communications
Global stocktake*Transparency framework

Financial mechanism
Technology Mechanism
Capacity Building

EDUCATION, SCIENCE, GENDER, INDIGENOUS PEOPLES* Includes Loss and Damage

WHAT IS IN IT ?
Two key processes structure the implementation of the Paris Agreement:
transparency and the enhancement of climate ambition.
TRANSPARENCY AND
TRACKING OF CLIMATECOMMITMENTS
These principles allow each Stateto know and show where it stands
in its efforts and thus generateconfidence in the fulfilment ofeach of its commitments. The
implementation rules of the Paris
Agreement specify the reporting
rules applicable to all States withregard to greenhouse gas
emissions, adaptation efforts, andthe means of implementation(finance, technology transfer,
capacity building) made available
to developing States to assist
them in implementing theagreement.
RAISING THE AMBITION OF
CLIMATE AMBITION
A global stocktake will be
conducted every five years,
starting in 2023, to review
progress and measure the gap
with the objectives of the Paris
Agreement. This assessment
will serve as a basis for Statesto increase their ambition. The
rulebook shall define its
modalities. It also takes into
account cross-cutting issues
such as gender, education andpublic participation, and the roleof indigenous peoples in climatetransition.

These rules will be reviewed by
States over time to improve theireffectiveness. Discussions under
the UNFCCC will continue, bothto enforce these rules, to review
their application and possibly toamend them.
Parties to the UNFCCC must also
ensure the transition from the
Kyoto Protocol which will end in2020 to this new regime.

CLIMAT - Understanding the implementation rules of the Paris Agreement

5

AMBITION
MITIGATION

CLIMAT - Understanding the implementation rules of the Paris Agreement

6

GLOSARY
Adaptation

Adjustment process to thepresent or expected climate.
The aim is both to limit thenegative impacts of climatechange and to increase theresilience of populations andecosystems, while exploiting
the beneficial effects.
Mitigation

All actions contributing to the
reduction or stabilization ofgreenhouse gas emissions
into the atmosphere.
Nationally Determined
Contributions

Quantified contributions
corresponding to the national
efforts envisaged in thecontext of the fight against
climate change.

The main objective of the Paris
Agreement is to limit the increasein global temperature to well
below 2°C compared to thepre-industrial era. This implies
considerable efforts to reduce
emissions on a global scale.
Countries must provide nationally determined contributions(NDC) every 5 years. These
documents indicate the mitigation efforts to which countries
commit in order to contribute to
the achievement of the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
The rulebook sets out the list of
information to be provided withthese national contributions, so
as to ensure that the commitments made by States are clear
and transparent.
Common timeframes for all NDC
will be applied from 2031
onwards. This period of implementation, 5 or 10 years forexample, will be the subject of
the next negotiations.
All national contributions will be
published on a dedicated pageon the UNFCCC website. Thispublic register will allow
everyone to have access to
successive contributions fromcountries, in particular to assess
their progress and ambition.
NOTE: France submitted its national

contribution collectively with all EU

2023
1
STOCKTAKE
st global

2024
1st transparency
REPORT

Member States on 6 March 2015. It plansto reduce the Union's GHG emissions by atleast 40% by 2030, compared to 1990
levels.
WHAT THE IMPLEMENTATION RULESOF THE PARIS AGREEMENT SAY

They ensure that countries communicate and account for their NDCs in aclear and transparent manner.
A common application period for all
national contributions will be applied
from 2031 onwards.
All national contributions will be
published on an open access website.

ADAPTATION

Adaptation is a major priority forclimate action, particularly forsmall island developing States
and least developed countries.
These countries, whose GHGs
emisssions are low, are strongly
affected by climate change
because their geographical andsocio-economic characteristics
make them more vulnerable.
The Paris Agreement sets a global
goal for adaptation and recognizes the importance of taking
into account the needs ofdeveloping countries, recognizing
their efforts and supporting them.
It sets up a common framework
for each State to communicate,on a voluntary basis, its past
(results, lessons learnt) andfuture adaptation actions(strategies, action plans, etc.), in
order to strengthen international
mobilization in response to theadaptation challenge.
In this framework, States will beable to report through an
adaptation communication.

The new framework provides
flexibility for developing countries inthe degree of rigour of reporting.

means to meet the new requirements. Flexibilities are strictly
limited and are intended to belimited in time, as the reporting
capacities of the concernedcountries evolve.
The Paris Agreement's transparency framework reports onactions on mitigation, adaptation,
as well as on the means of
implementation available todeveloping countries to help themmeet their commitments (finance,technology transfer, capacity
building).
Ultimately, this framework will
make it possible to verify whether
the commitments have been
fulfilled.

They set common guidelines forcountries to communicate, on a
voluntary basis, their adaptation
policies in adaptation communications.
These public communications will
be taken into account in the global
stocktake.

TRANSPARENCY

In order to ensure that States'climate commitments are tracked,
the Paris Agreement provides arobust transparency framework
applicable to all countries. This is amajor development from the
Kyoto Protocol, which imposed
accountability only on developed
countries.
From 2024 onwards, all States will
have to produce biennial transparency reports and GHG
emission inventories according toharmonised rules. This newframework includes a system offlexibilities for developing
countries that do not have the

GLOBAL STOCKTAKE

The global stocktake, which willtake place every 5 years from2023, aims to assess thecollective progress made in thefight against global warming andthe remaining efforts needed toachieve the objectives of theParis Agreement.
Conducted between Parties,
with the participation of
non-state actors, the global
assessment should take stock,country by country, of:l mitigation actions, including
response measures;l adaptation actions, including
loss and damage;l the mobilization of financial,technological and capacity building
resources. It serves as a basis for
informing countries' future climate
commitments and enhancing
the ambition of nationally determined contributions.

WHAT THE IMPLEMENTATION RULESOF THE PARIS AGREEMENT SAY

They set common standards for all
countries to report regularly on theimplementation of their climate policies.
From 2024 onwards, all countries
will be required to produce biennial
transparency reports and GHG
emission inventories.

7
CLIMAT - Understanding the implementation rules of the Paris Agreement

WHAT THE IMPLEMENTATION RULESOF THE PARIS AGREEMENT SAY

AMBITION CYCLE
Level of ambition

TECHNICALEVALUATIONTECHNICALEVALUATIONTECHNICALEVALUATIONSTOCKTAKEof collective
and individual
progress

TALAONADIALOGUE

Publicationof long term
strategies

IMPLEMENTATIONof the NDC
and collectionof information

FIRST
GLOBALSTOCKTAKE

IMPLEMENTATIONof the NDC
and collectionof information
NDC

SECOND
GLOBALSTOCKTAKE

NDC

Informs the updating andenhancing of the NDCInforms the updating andenhancing of the NDC

NDC

Informs the communication
or update of the NDC

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026

2027

2028

2029

2030

WHAT THE IMPLEMENTATION RULESOF THE PARIS AGREEMENT SAY

CLIMAT - Understanding the implementation rules of the Paris Agreement

8

The global stocktake includes
3 phases: information gathering,
technical evaluation, and politicalphase.
It is conducted between States
Parties with the participation of
non-state actors.
It considers mitigation, adaptationand means of implementation. It is
informed by the IPCC and transparency
reports.
It is informed by the IPCC scientificreports and transparency reports.

LOSS AND DAMAGE

The Paris Agreement recognizes
the importance of averting,minimizing and addressing Loss

and Damage related to climatechange by working on early warning systems, disaster preparedness, comprehensive/global risks
assessment and management,
slow onset events...
Established at COP19, theWarsaw International Mechanism (WIM) on Loss and Damage
associated with Climate Change
impacts will be reviewed at
COP25. It is mandated to help
to better understand Loss andDamage and to promote theimplementation of approaches
to avert, minimize and addressit, particularly in the mostvulnerable developing countries.

WHAT THE IMPLEMENTATION RULESOF THE PARIS AGREEMENT SAY

Actions to avert, minimize andaddress Loss and Damage can bereported (transparency framework)
Loss and Damage will be taken
into account across the threethemes of the global stocktake(mitigation, adaptation and meansof implementation).

TOOLS
COMMITTEE ON
CONFORMITY AND
FACILITATIONThe Paris Agreement establishes a committee to facilitate
implementation and promotecompliance. It is non-punitive.
Its objective is to assist Statesthat do not comply with their
obligations under the agreement to get back on track forcompliance.
This is an important elementthat strengthens the transparency system and contributes tothe reliability and integrity of
the climate regime.
The committee can makerecommendations, propose
action plans to States and draw
conclusions on the cases it will
have to deal with. It willproduce an annual report forconsideration by the COP.

It must also play a role in
improving action, by identifying
the difficulties encountered by
States in implementing theParis Agreement.
The committee may betriggered by a State that has
difficulties in implementing its
obligations and seeks support.
It can also take action itself if aState does not submit its
national contribution or
mandatory information under
the transparency framework.
The committee, whose framework for action was defined at
COP24, will be set up at theend of 2019 at COP25.

WHAT THE IMPLEMENTATION RULESOF THE PARIS AGREEMENT SAY

The Compliance and Facilitation
Committee will assist countries inmeeting their obligations under theParis Agreement. This mechanism is notpunitive in nature.
It will be established at the end of2019 and will meet at least twice a year;
it will be composed of 12 elected
members with a balanced geographicalrepresentation.
It will produce an annual report on
the cases dealt with and the difficulties encountered by States in
implementing the Paris Agreement.

MECHANISMS FOR
TRADING EMISSIONALLOWANCES OF
GREENHOUSE GASESThe Paris Agreement allows
countries to achieve their
mitigation objectives throughGHG emissions trading
instruments. To this end, it
stresses the need for rules topreserve the environmental
integrity and to ensure thatRESPONSE MEASURESThe Paris Agreement recognizes
the need to take into accountthe effects of climate change
response measures, which are
the positive and negative effectsof measures to fight global
warming, in particular socio-economic impacts.
For developed countries that
produce fossil fuels, thesenegative effects include theimpact on the workforce andregions of the transformation of
old industries and the transition
to a less carbon-intensive
economic model.

WHAT THE IMPLEMENTATION RULESOF THE PARIS AGREEMENT SAY

A new body is created, the Katowice
Committee of Experts on the Impact ofResponse Measures. Established inspring 2019, it will support work on
this subject.

IMPLEMENTATIONFINANCEThe question of finance provided
by developed countries todeveloping countries to support
their climate action was the
subject of difficult discussions at
COP24. However, they haveresulted in a balanced set of
implementation rules.
The financial issues cover a fairly
broad set of negotiating points,
covering the rules for transparency of past and projectedfinancing, the new financial
target after 2025 (the year
marking the end of the period of
mobilization by developed
countries of $100 billion peryear, decided at COP15 in
Copenhagen) and the recommendations that the COP makes
each year to several international climate funds.

WHAT THE IMPLEMENTATION RULESOF THE PARIS AGREEMENT SAY

The rules on accounting for past
climate finance by governments andmultilateral development banks will

come into force after 2022. Theyclarify and strengthen the existing
framework by improving the level ofdetail of information provided andthe comparability of data between
developed States.
A detailed list of information to beprovided by developed countries on
their climate finance forecasts has
been defined. This leaves considerable flexibility for States to provide
qualitative information whenquantitative information on futurefinancing is not available. This list
may be revised in 2023.
The objective of redirecting all
financial flows towards a low-carbon
and climate-resilient development
will be integrated into discussions
on the new post-2025 financial
objective. This is a significant
development from the frameworkin place for the period 2020-2025,
which is mainly limited to theobjective of 100 billion dollars
mobilised per year from developed
to developing States. These discussions on the post-2025 financial
objective will begin in November 2020.

The Adaptation Fund, originallycreated under the Kyoto Protocol,
which will end in 2020, will now also
serve the Paris Agreement. Thisdecision confirms its role in climate
finance.

100
BILLION$ /YEARfor developing countries
until 2025

9
CLIMAT - Understanding the implementation rules of the Paris Agreement

each tonne of emissions
released into the atmosphereis counted only once.
Rules to regulate GHG emissions
trading, through market-based
approaches (carbon market,
bilateral carbon credit trading),
as well as non-market approaches (international cooperation, capacity building) werediscussed at COP24. No agreement could be reached on this
topic. Negotiations continue forfinalization at COP25.

TECHNOLOGY
TRANSFER

CLIMAT - Understanding the implementation rules of the Paris Agreement

10

The Paris Agreement establishes a Technology Framework tofacilitate technology transfers
and strengthen existing actions
within the UNFCCC. These
actions are carried out within
the framework of the Technology Executive Committee(TEC), which is responsible forproviding recommendations to
the Parties, and the Climate
Technology Centre and Network(CTCN), which provides technicalassistance to developing
countries on climate technology
matters.

WHAT THE IMPLEMENTATION RULESOF THE PARIS AGREEMENT SAY

The Technology Framework describes
the priority actions to be taken to
improve technology transfers under the
UNFCCC.
Periodic assessment procedures for
the TEC and the CTCN are defined.

CAPACITY BUILDING

Like other means of implementation (financing and technology
transfers), capacity building is across-cutting issue that isaddressed in discussions on
adaptation, mitigation ortransparency. This could include,for example, organizing a
training and exchange workshop
on greenhouse gas inventories
with experts from beneficiary
countries.
COP21 reiterated the importanceof this issue by establishing the60

COUNTRIES
benefitingfrom the adaptation fundParis Committee on Capacity
Building (PCCB) in 2015 to
identify and respond to needs. It
met for the first time in 2017. It
will be assessed at COP25.

WHAT THE IMPLEMENTATION RULESOF THE PARIS AGREEMENT SAY

Several decisions refer to the Paris

Committee on Capacity Building,including decisions on adaptation or the
global stocktake.
The need for capacity building ishighlighted for the development,
communication and accounting of NDC,
participation in the global balance
sheet or to meet transparency
requirements, for example.

CROSSCUTTING
THEMES
These topics are not covered in the rulebook, but contributeto the implementation of the Paris Agreement.
EDUCATION /The Paris Agreement provides a framework for national engagement in education, training and public awareness on climatechange as a long-term measure. Countries that so wish may takethese long-term measures into account in the preparation andimplementation of their NDC.
GENDER /Because of their different social roles, women and men may
experience the impacts of climate change differently, with womenoften being disproportionately affected. This is why the Paris
Agreement recognizes the need to take gender into account in
the fight against climate change. It must be included in the NDC,
adaptation communications, emission reports, technology
framework, or financial reporting. The review of the Lima work
programme on gender equality and its action plan will take place
at COP25.
PLATFORM OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES /Indigenous knowledge provides solutions for combating climatechange. At COP21, the Parties recognized the need to strengthen
the knowledge, technologies, practices and efforts of local communities and indigenous peoples through a dedicated platform.
A Facilitative Working Group will present its initial two-year work
plan (2020 and 2021) at COP25.

AND AFTER COP24?
Dec. 2018

COP 24
CLIMATE ACTION SUMMIT Sept. 2019organized by the United nations Secretary-General
Nov. 2019 COP25
Negotiations on Article 6
  Publication of the NDC and Adaptation Communications register
Review of the Warsaw Mechanism on Loss and Damage
Evaluation of the Paris Committee on Capacity Building
Revision of the gender action plan
  Revision of the work programme on education

COMMUNICATION OF UPDATED NATIONALLY
DETERMINEDCONTRIBUTIONS (NDC)
Nov. 2019 / Feb. 2020

Nov. 2020 COP26

1 biennial report containing quantitative and qualitative
information on projected financial support from developed countries
  Discussions begin on the new post-2025 financial target  1st meeting of the compliance committeest

COP27 Nov. / Dec. 2021
  Ministerial dialogue on climate finance  Launch of the 1st periodic assessmentof the Technology Mechanism
Nov. / Dec. 2022 COP28

  Technical assessment for the global stocktake
  Review of additional guidelines for adaptation communications
proposed by the Adaptation Committee
  Adoption of the periodic assessment review of the Technology Mechanism

COP29 Nov. / Dec. 2023

Nov. / Dec. 2024

COP30

  Discussions on updating the NDC guidelines
  Assessment of the Compliance Committee's terms and procedures
  Publication of transparency reports by countries
under the new regime

  Global stocktake that will inform the revision of the
NDC in 2025
  Decision on the common timeframes of NDC
  Evaluation of the Forum on Response Measures

COP31 Nov. / Dec. 2025
  Communication of new NDC
  Review of guidelines for adaptation communications
and revision if necessary

Nov. / Dec. 2028

COP34

Second global stocktake

FOR MORE INFORMATION
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