The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015. It entered into force on 4 November 2016.

The Agreement sets long-term goals to guide all nations to:
– To hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”

– To periodically assess the collective progress towards achieving the purpose of this agreement and its long-term goals

– To provide financing to developing countries to mitigate climate change, strengthen resilience and enhance abilities

But how does it work?
The Paris Agreement works on a five-year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action. Every five years, each country is expected to submit an updated national climate action plan.