In this article published by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), Sani Zou (Climate Finance research Fellow at IDDRI) introduces the state of play on each of the elements that could potentially form a part of the new climate agreement: legal form of the agreement, mitigation objectives, adaptation to climate change, climate finance, transparency of national contributions, participation of non-State actors to the fight against climate change and to its financing.
Extract:
"Climate and development finance are intrinsically linked, and climate change is one of the proposed SDGs, according to a list put forward by a specialised UN group last July. In order to maximise synergies and balance trade-offs between adaptation, mitigation, and other development objectives, enhanced co-ordination between these processes will be crucial to effectively implement the respective international aims in the years ahead. The fundamental objective of the Paris agreement will be to re-engineer a global, systemic change in line with the two degree Celsius warming ceiling. International policy co-ordination will be important to maximise mitigation and adaptation potentials. For example, mutual economic gains can be increased from the co-ordinated removal of trade tariffs and non-tariff barriers on low-carbon, climate-resilient technologies. In a worst case scenario, uncoordinated climate policies with implications on economic competitiveness could lead to sub-optimal outcomes for parties potentially descending into trade wars, as illustrated by the spat over solar PV production and commerce between China and the EU. There is thus a need for a close alignment between the climate governance and the trade governance agenda."
