After this short introduction on international negotiations, we focus on the Paris Agreement of 2015. World leaders adopted the Paris Agreement at the 2015 climate summit in Paris. It established a more bottom-up system of governance through which states pledge to make emission reductions (Nationally Determined Contributions). Furthermore, not only nations are recognized as important actors, also non-Party stakeholders are encouraged to address and respond to climate change. There is an online portal for non-state and subnational actors to register their emission reduction commitments (the Non-state Actor Zone for Climate Action). To get an idea of these core elements of the Paris Agreement, you are asked to explore the Nationally Determined Contribution and non-state actor climate actions of your own country.

Instruction (30 minutes time indication)

Step 1: Check the NDC register
Go to the website of the NDC registry of the UNFCCC and look up what the Nationally Determined Contribution is of your own country. You can find the website here. To compare also check the NDC’s of two other countries that are in your interest.

Step 2: Check the Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action platform
Go to the website of the Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action platform, that you can find here. Make a short inventory of actions of your own region. To compare, also look at companies and investors contributions.