International Environmental Protocols: A Critical Analysis

A RESEARCH SUBMITTED IN THE FINAL FULFILMENT FOR THE COURSE OF

ENVIRONMENT LAWS FOR ATTAINING THE DEGREE OF B.A. LL.B. (HONS.)

SUBMITTED BY SUBMITTED TO
NAME: GAUTAM GUPTA MR. HRISHIKESH MANU
SEMESTER: VII FACULTY OF LAW
ROLL NO.: 1728

OCTOBER, 2020
CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, MITHAPUR, 800001.

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 CERTIFICATE OF DECLARATION

The researcher, hereby declares that the project work entitled “International Environmental
Protocols : A Critical Analysis” submitted to the CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW
UNIVERSITY, PATNA, is a record of an original work done by me under the guidance of
Mr. Hrishikesh Manu, Faculty of Law. Any reference to work done by any other person or
institution or any material obtained from other sources have been duly cited and referenced.

Gautam Gupta
Chanakya National Law University
7th Semester

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Writing a project is one of the most significant academic challenges the researcher has ever
faced. Though this project has been presented by me but there are many people who remained
in veil, who gave their all support and helped me to complete this project.

The researcher is very grateful to my subject teacher, Mr. Hrishikesh Manu without their kind
support and help of whom the completion of the project was a herculean task for the
researcher. She donated his valuable time from his busy time to help me to complete this
project and suggested the researcher as to how to improve the project.

Gautam Gupta
Roll No. 1728
7th Semester

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 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The aims and objective of this project work is:

1) To understand the major features of prominent environment protocols.

2) To gather any shortcomings in these protocols.
3) To have a major focus on climate change treaties.

HYPOTHESIS
The researcher presumes that while initiating such protocol’s the purpose of the international
community was well meant, due to lax implementation the objectives of such protocols were
not reached.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research methodology for the project-work is doctrinal i.e., library-based research. The
researcher has chosen such type of methodology as through it the evaluation of relevant
provisions as well as case laws can be done easily and efficiently.

SOURCES OF DATA

The researcher will be relying on both primary and secondary sources to complete the project.

1. Primary Sources: Judicial statements, acts, laws under Indian constitution.

2. Secondary Sources: Books, newspapers and websites.

LIMITATION

The greatest limitation before the researcher was shortage of time. The researcher faced acute
shortage of time while preparation of this project.

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 CHP 1: INTRODUCTION

The term multilateral environmental agreement relates to a number of legally binding

international instruments that are used by States to commit to the achievement of specific
environmental goals. These agreements can have different names, such as convention, treaty,
agreement and protocol. However, the difference in names does not change the legally
binding nature of the agreement. So long as the agreement is intended to be governed by
international law and creates binding international obligations, it is an international treaty.

The 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties makes this clear. It defines a treaty as an
international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by
international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or more related
instruments and whatever its particular designation. As a principle of international treaty law,
multilateral environmental agreements, like any treaty, bind only those States that have
agreed to be bound by it. However, multilateral environmental agreements can affect non-
Parties, for example by prohibiting or restricting trade by Parties with non-Parties.

Over the years, many multilateral environmental agreements have been negotiated and agreed
at the international and regional levels. While some have a few Parties, others have almost
global participation. The first multilateral environmental agreements were quite different
from the ones that have been signed and come into force in recent years. They were usually
aimed at protecting a particular species. However, over time and as appreciation of the
interlinked nature of ecological processes has developed, such sectorial approaches were
gradually abandoned in the quest for more integrated considerations and, as a consequence,
more integrated mechanisms and solutions.

However, multilateral environmental agreements remained sectorial until the early 1990s in
the sense that they did not incorporate specific sustainability approaches and only dealt with
environmental protection or conservation. While the first generation of multilateral
environmental agreements were use-oriented, the more recent second generation agreements
took a more holistic approach, focusing on sustainable development and sustainable use of
natural resources.1

1
https://wedocs.unep.org/rest/bitstreams/35153/retrieve

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 CHP 2: PROCESS OF NEGOTIATING MULTILATERAL
AGREEMENTS

Negotiations on a new multilateral environmental agreement usually take place under the
auspices of an intergovernmental negotiating committee while the main body for negotiations
relating to existing multilateral environmental agreements is usually the Conference of the
Parties. There are different factors that form the negotiation process and are responsible for
its success.

 Negotiating positions: Once there has been a decision to negotiate a multilateral

environmental agreement, States have to assess their needs and capacity. Potential
national implications of implementing and enforcing a new multilateral environmental
agreement at the domestic level need to be identified and assessed. The potential
economic impact of a new agreement is often a crucial consideration. Negotiations
Based on the assessment that States make about their interests, negotiating position
will be adopted and transmitted to the individuals designated as part of national
delegation.
 Rules of procedure: To ensure the efficient negotiations of an agreement, rules of
procedure are adopted that dictate the place and date of the meetings, the agenda, the
establishment of a bureau, and the language of the meetings. In addition to these rules
of procedure, there are a number of other widely used negotiating mechanisms.
 Bureau establishment: The rules of procedure establish a Bureau that is designated
to manage the necessary administrative and logistical matters. It usually drafts the
first version of an agreement which will serve as a basis for discussion and
negotiation. In practice, the Bureau plays a large role in the success of the
negotiations as it can keep negotiations moving and provide impetus where
negotiations have stalled.2

Where a State wants to commit to a multilateral environmental agreement, there are several
steps to be taken before it becomes a Party. These steps are guided by the Vienna Convention
on the Law of Treaties of 1969.

2
https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/publications/negotiators_handbook.pdf

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Adoption: In practice, diplomatic conferences usually take place during the final stage of the
negotiations: the final text of the agreement is formulated, agreed and adopted by the
participants.

Signature: An authorised State representative has to render the signature. The signature may
happen after the diplomatic conference that closes negotiations or within a designated period
after the agreement is open for signature. Multilateral environmental agreements usually have
one article that states the period the agreement is open for signature. The signature
authenticates the text of the agreement as being the one finally agreed upon. While signature
generally does not bind a State to the terms of the agreement, it however declares an intention
of the State to become a Party to the agreement.

Ratification: A State becomes Party to the agreement and bound by it through ratification or
accession. The ratification or accession process is the international act whereby a State
establishes on the international plane its consent to be bound by the agreement.

Entry into force: A multilateral environmental agreement enters into force once the
requirements usually specified in one article of the agreement text are met. This typically
happens within a specified time (for example 30, 60, or 90 days) after a specified number of
States have ratified the agreement3.

3
UN, 2012, Treaty Handbook
https://treaties.un.org/doc/source/publications/THB/English.pdf

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 CHP 3: MONTREAL PROTOCOL

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is the landmark
multilateral environmental agreement that regulates the production and consumption of
nearly 100 man-made chemicals referred to as ozone depleting substances (ODS). When
released to the atmosphere, those chemicals damage the stratospheric ozone layer, Earth’s
protective shield that protects humans and the environment from harmful levels of ultraviolet
radiation from the sun. Adopted on 15 September 1987, the Protocol is to date the only UN
treaty ever that has been ratified every country on Earth - all 197 UN Member States.

The Montreal Protocol phases down the consumption and production of the different ODS in
4
a step-wise manner, with different timetables for developed and developing countries.
Under this treaty, all parties have specific responsibilities related to the phase out of the
different groups of ODS, control of ODS trade, annual reporting of data, national licensing
systems to control ODS imports and exports, and other matters. Developing and developed
countries have equal but differentiated responsibilities, but most importantly, both groups of
countries have binding, time-targeted and measurable commitments.

The Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol  was established in

1991 under Article 10 of the treaty. The Fund's objective is to provide financial and technical
assistance to developing country parties to the Montreal Protocol whose annual per capita
consumption and production of ODS is less than 0.3 kg to comply with the control measures
of the Protocol.

The Multilateral Fund’s activities are implemented by four international agencies - UN
Environment Programme (UNEP) , UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Industrial
Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the World Bank - as well as bilateral agencies of
non-Article 5 countries.

Responsibility for overseeing the operation of the Fund rests with the Executive Committee,
which comprises seven members each from Article 5 countries and non-Article 5 countries.
The Committee is assisted by the Multilateral Fund Secretariat, which is based in Montreal

Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are gases used worldwide in refrigeration, air-

conditioning and foam applications, but they are being phased out under the Montreal
Protocol since deplete the ozone layer. HCFCs are both ODS and powerful greenhouse gases:
4
Article 5, Montreal Protocol

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the most commonly used HCFC is nearly 2,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide in
terms of its global warming potential (GWP).  Recognizing the potential benefits to the
Earth’s climate, in September 2007 the Parties decided to accelerate their schedule to phase
out HCFCs. 

Another group of substances, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), were introduced as non-ozone

depleting alternatives to support the timely phase out of CFCs and HCFCs. HFCs are now
widespread in air conditioners, refrigerators, aerosols, foams and other products. 

The Parties to the Montreal Protocol reached agreement at their 28th Meeting of the Parties
on 15 October 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda to phase-down HFCs. Countries agreed to add HFCs
to the list of controlled substances, and approved a timeline for their gradual reduction by 80-
85 per cent by the late 2040s. The first reductions by developed countries are expected in
2019. Developing countries will follow with a freeze of HFCs consumption levels in 2024
and in 2028 for some nations5.

5
https://www.unenvironment.org/ozonaction/who-we-are/about-montreal-protocol

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 CHP 4: UNFCCC

The UNFCCC is one of the most far-reaching treaties ever negotiated. Since greenhouse gas
emissions are the result of so many aspects of modern life, becoming a party to the treaty
commits states to subjecting almost all aspects of their economic activities to some form of
international scrutiny and supervision. The legal instruments that will be negotiated under the
UNFCCC will have profound impacts on national economies.

The objective of the treaty is ‘… stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the

atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the
climate system’. Greenhouse gases are defined as ‘gaseous constituents of the atmosphere,
both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and re-emit infrared radiation.’ In its first
scientific assessment IPCC concluded that during the decade from 1980 to 1990 carbon
dioxide had contributed 55 percent of the greenhouse gases to the change in radioactive
forcing, chlorofluorocarbons 24 percent, methane 15 percent, and nitrous oxide, 6 percent. 6

Carbon dioxide emissions result primarily from fossil fuel combustion and land use and land
use changes. The first principle of the UNFCCC is that ‘The Parties should protect the
climate system for the benefit of present and future generations of humankind, on the basis of
equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective
capabilities’. 7

Other principles include exhorting the parties to give special consideration for developing
countries, take ‘precautionary measures,’ promote sustainable development, and promote a
‘supportive and open international economic system.’ All parties to the treaty undertake
commitments to meet the treaty’s objective. 8Though these commitments are stated in general
terms in the framework convention, they are to be made more specific through additional
legal instruments negotiated later. The UNFCCC defines various categories of countries and
establishes differential responsibilities for them. There are three categories of parties to the
treaty: developed countries, developed countries with special financial responsibilities, and
developing countries.

Developed countries, or Annex I countries, are exhorted to take ‘immediate action’ to limit
greenhouse gas emissions. Annex I includes 38 states, of which 13 were Eastern Europe

6
Article 2, UNFCCC
7
Article 3, UNFCCC
8
Article 4, UNFCCC

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states in transition to democracy and market economies, and the European Union (in formal
legal terms the European Community)., explicitly requires Annex I countries ‘to adopt
national policies and take corresponding measures on the mitigation of climate change’ by
limiting their anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. The Article further requires them
to report on the steps that they take with the aim of ‘returning individually or jointly to their
1990 levels these anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases not
controlled by the Montreal Protocol.’ 9

The countries that are listed in Annex II of the UNFCCC are required ‘to provide new and
additional financial resources to meet the full agreed costs incurred by developing country
Parties in complying with their obligations’ to produce national inventories of their
‘emissions by sources and removals by sinks of all greenhouse gases not controlled by the
Montreal Protocol.’ They also have responsibilities for providing financial assistance to the
developing countries for other agreed tasks. Annex II includes Annex I countries except those
in transition to democracy and market economies. The requirements for developing countries
are more modest. They are specifically required to submit their inventories to the UNFCCC
secretariat. Beyond that they are exhorted to adopt policies and take measures to mitigate
climate change and adapt to it. 10

Conference of the Parties: Parties to the UNFCCC continue to adopt decisions, review

progress and consider further action through regular meetings of the Conference of the
Parties (COP). The Conference of Parties is the highest-decision making body of the
Convention, and usually meets annually.

Secretariat: The Conference of Parties and the Convention goals are supported by various
bodies and organizations. This includes a Permanent Secretariat with various duties set out
under Article 8 of the UNFCCC. Since 1996, the Secretariat has been based in Bonn,
Germany, after an offer to host it was accepted by Parties to the first meeting of the COP in
1995.

Subsidiary Bodies: A number of subsidiary bodies also advise the COP. The Subsidiary
Body on Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTA) links scientific, technical and
technological assessments, the information provided by competent international bodies, and
the policy-oriented needs of the COP. The Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) was
created to develop recommendations to assist the COP in reviewing and assessing
9
Article 4, paragraph 2, UNFCCC
10
Article 4, paragraph 3, UNFCCC

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implementation of the Convention and in preparing and implementing its decisions. The
SBSTA and SBI usually meet twice each year, at the same time and venue. One of these two
yearly meetings generally takes place in parallel with the COP.

Financing and the Global Environment Facility: The UNFCCC includes provision under
Article 10 for a financial mechanism to support developing countries and countries with
economies in transition to a market economy in implementing the Convention. Parties to the
UNFCCC decided that the Global Environment Facility (GEF) should act as the financial
mechanism, given its expertise in this area.

Other financial resources for implementing the Convention are also available through
the Special Climate Change Fund, the Least Developed Countries Fund, and the Adaptation
Fund, as well as through donor countries and agencies.

Expert Groups and Other Constituted Bodies: The Convention is also supported by a

number of expert groups and other constituted bodies. These include the Consultative Group
of Experts (CGE) on national communications from “non-Annex I” Parties (a group
composed mostly of developing countries). Other bodies include the Least Developed
Country Expert Group (LEG), the Expert Group on Technology Transfer, and the Executive
Board of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation Supervisory
Committee.

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 CHP 5: KYOTO PROTOCOL

The process of negotiating legal instruments under the UNFCCC was launched at the first
Conference of the Parties (COP-1) in Berlin in 1995. The IPCC published its second
assessment report in 1996. The report confirmed that climate change was occurring because
of human actions and analysed the impacts of climate change and the measures that could be
taken to adapt to and mitigate climate change. The report provided a strong stimulus for
further action.

An initial agreement to establish legally binding quantified emissions limitations and

reduction commitments was reached at COP-3 in Kyoto, Japan on 10 December 1997. Kyoto
Protocol would require Annex I countries collectively to reduce their overall greenhouse gas
emissions ‘by at least five percent below their 1990 levels in the commitment period 2008 to
2012.’11

Specifically the Kyoto Protocol required the USA to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to
93 percent of the 1990 levels, Japan to 94 percent, and the European Economic Community
to 92 percent. Norway, on the other hand, is allowed to increase its emissions to 101 percent
of the 1990 level, Australia to 108 percent, and Iceland to 110 percent. The European
Community’s obligation applied to the Community as a whole. Under arrangements made
within the EU some countries, especially Germany and the UK, which had the largest
emissions, agreed to reduce their emissions more than 8 percent below the 1990 levels, which
would allow others, such as Greece and Portugal, to increase their emissions above the 1990
levels. Greece would be allowed to increase its emissions by 25 percent and Portugal by 27
percent.

The Kyoto Protocol covered six greenhouse gases that were not covered by the Montreal
Protocol: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydro fluorocarbons, perfluorcarbons, and
sulphur hexafluoride. The limitations apply to ‘net changes in greenhouse gas emissions by
sources and removals by sinks resulting from direct human-induced land-use changes and
forestry activities, limited to afforestation, reforestation and deforestation since 1990,
measured as verifiable changes in carbon stocks in each commitment period’12.

The Kyoto Protocol included three flexible mechanisms. One was emission trading. Annex I
countries would be able to trade emission allowances. For instance, if a party had difficulty

11
Article 3, paragraph 1, Kyoto Protocol
12
Article 3, paragraph 3, Kyoto Protocol

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meeting its required limitations, it would be able to purchase emission allowances from
another party that had emissions that were lower than its limitation. Joint Implementation
among Annex I countries was another flexible mechanism. If a party engaged in a project to
increase the sinks on another party’s territory through reforestation the two parties could
share the credit for the increased sinks. The third flexible mechanism was the Clean
Development Mechanism. Annex I countries could engage in projects in non-Annex I
countries that reduced prospective emissions and share the credit for this. The US
government and many economists argued that these flexible mechanisms would make it
possible to limit emissions at the least possible cost. 13

The Kyoto Protocol did not include requirements that specify policies and measures that
parties must adopt, although it could have under the terms of the UNFCCC. It did not require
that countries impose a carbon tax or ensure that appliances or automobiles meet efficiency
standards. Many European states argued that any effort to limit greenhouse gas emissions
should require uniform policies and measures. Some US economists also made this argument.
The US government preferred that international accords state obligations and that parties
should be free to adopt whatever policies and measures they choose to meet their obligations.
Policies and measures— whether they are uniform or country-specific—will inevitably be
part of the climate change regime. They will also place heavy demands on the capacity of
countries that are parties to the UNFCCC.

The protocol entered into force in February 2005, 90 days after being ratified by at least 55
Annex I signatories that together accounted for at least 55 percent of total carbon dioxide
emissions in 1990. Although the Kyoto Protocol represented a landmark diplomatic
accomplishment, its success was far from assured. Indeed, reports issued in the first two years
after the treaty took effect indicated that most participants would fail to meet their emission
targets. Even if the targets were met, however, the ultimate benefit to the environment would
not be significant, according to some critics, since China, the world’s leading emitter of
greenhouse gases, and the United States, the world’s second largest emitter, were not bound
by the protocol.

In 2005, many countries, including those in the EU, planned to meet or exceed their targets
under the agreement by 2011. Others, such as the US and China- the world’s biggest
emitters- produced enough GHGs mitigate any of the progress made by countries who met

13
Article 12, Kyoto Protocol

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their targets. In fact, there was an increase of about 40% in emissions globally between 1990
and 2009. 

At the 18th Conference of the Parties (COP18), held in Doha, Qatar, in 2012, delegates
agreed to extend the Kyoto Protocol until 2020. They also reaffirmed their pledge from
COP17, which had been held in Durban, South Africa, in 2011, to create a
new, comprehensive, legally binding climate treaty by 2015 that would require greenhouse-
gas-producing countries—including major carbon emitters not abiding by the Kyoto Protocol
(such as China, India, and the United States)—to limit and reduce their emissions of carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases. 

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 CHP 6: PARIS AGREEMENT

Paris Agreement, in full Paris Agreement Under the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change, also called Paris Climate Agreement or COP21, international treaty,
named for the city of Paris, France, in which it was adopted in December 2015, which aimed
to reduce the emission of gases that contribute to global warming. The Paris Agreement set
out to improve upon and replace the Kyoto Protocol, an earlier international treaty designed
to curb the release of greenhouse gases. It entered into force on November 4, 2016, and has
been signed by 197 countries and ratified by 187.

From November 30 to December 11, 2015, France hosted representatives from 196 countries
at the United Nations (UN) climate change conference, one of the most important and most
ambitious global climate meetings ever assembled. The objective was no less than a binding
and universal agreement designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions to levels that would
prevent global temperatures from increasing more than 2°C (3.6°F) above the
temperature benchmark set before the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. 14

In the lead-up to the Paris meeting, the UN tasked countries to submit plans detailing how
they intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Those plans were technically referred to as
intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs). By December 10, 2015, 185 countries
had submitted measures to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 or 2030. 

One of the main sticking points of the negotiations was the issue of transferring funds from
developed countries to LDCs, because developed countries did not want to be the only ones
paying the costs. Moreover, even if the commitments of the countries were fulfilled, it was
unlikely that temperatures would be limited to an increase of 2 °C (3.6 °F). Many countries,
especially the island states threatened by rising sea levels, wanted to restrict warming to 1.5
°C (2.7 °F).15

The agreement also recognized the need of LDCs to improve their economies and
reduce poverty, which made immediate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions difficult. As a
result, it called on developing countries to enhance their mitigation efforts and move toward
emission reduction or limitation targets, while it underscored the need for developed
countries to continue to meet their emission reduction targets.

14
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Paris-Agreement-2015/Negotiations-and-agreement
15
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35073297

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The Paris Agreement specified no new funding targets but noted that developed countries
should provide financial resources to help LDCs “in continuation of their existing obligations
under the Convention,” such as the COP16 commitment of $100 billion per year from
developed countries by 2020. That funding was to support both mitigation
and adaptation efforts. Funding from developed countries would come from a number of
different mechanisms, presumably to include grants, equipment, and technical expertise16.

The text of the Paris Agreement emphasized cooperation, transparency, flexibility, and
regular reporting of progress in achieving the INDCs. There was no mechanism to
enforce compliance with the accord’s provisions, but there was to be one to “promote
compliance.” That aspect would be achieved via a committee that would function so as to be
“transparent, non-adversarial and non-punitive.” The committee would report annually to the
COP, and each party was asked to update its INDC every five years.

On June 1, 2017, United States President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would
withdraw from the 2015 Paris Agreement. Trump reasoned that the Paris accord would
undermine the domestic economy and place the nation at a permanent disadvantage. The
United States' withdrawal cannot occur before Nov. 2, 2020, according to Article 28 of the
Paris Agreement. Until then, the United States may have to meet its commitments under the
agreement, such as reporting its emissions to the United Nations. 17

Nearly two-thirds of the pledges under the Paris climate agreement are "totally insufficient"
to meet critical climate targets, the report by scientists who have been involved in the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found.

To keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7°F) compared to pre-industrial times,
the IPCC has found that global greenhouse gas emissions need to fall by about half by 2030
and then reach net zero by mid-century. The longer countries stall, the steeper the necessary
emissions cuts become.

The report, published by the Universal Ecological Fund, assessed the initial commitments
made by 184 countries that agreed to the Paris climate accord in 2015. (Under the agreement,
countries are supposed to toughen their carbon pledges every five years.) It found that only

16
https://www.c2es.org/content/paris-climate-agreement-qa/
17
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674927817301028

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36 countries have made pledges that could conceivably reach the IPCC's 2030 goal. The rest
are not ambitious or urgent enough—and many are unlikely to be achieved, it says.18

In an audit of the Paris Agreement released Tuesday, the UN Environment Programme finds

that if action to combat climate change is limited to just current pledges, the Earth will get at
least three degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer by 2100 relative to preindustrial
levels.

This amount of warming would vastly exceed the Paris Agreement’s goal, which is to limit
global warming by the end of the century to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit)
above preindustrial levels.

Pledges made under the Paris Agreement fall well short of achieving this goal. Even in a
best-case scenario for existing pledges, global emissions in 2030 will fall between 53 to 55.5
billion tons of CO2 equivalent in 2030. That amounts to an overshoot of 11 to 13.5 billion
tons, or more than twice the United States’ 2016 carbon footprint.19

18
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07112019/paris-climate-agreement-pledges-lack-urgency-ipcc-timeline-
warning#:~:text=Nearly%20two%2Dthirds%20of%20the,Climate%20Change%20(IPCC)%20found.
19
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/10/paris-agreement-climate-change-usa-nicaragua-policy-
environment/

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 CHP 7: CONCLUSION

The climate is a classic common good. Human action anywhere affects the climate and
humans everywhere are affected by the climate. Mitigating climate change will require the
combined efforts of governments and—in response to government policies—of individuals
throughout the world. Article 4 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change requires that these efforts be based on equity. This acknowledges the common good
character of the climate. Parties to the UNFCCC will only act if they feel that the burdens of
dealing with climate change are borne equitably. The treaty embodies one concept of equity.

Hence, the need for the day is that nations as whole should try to effectively implement these
protocols. It was the promise of the Paris Agreement that a cleaner environment was to be
provided for the betterment of our future generations. This is yet to be fulfilled.

Collective efforts will lead to better results. What is needed is better compliance from all. By
effectively realizing the Montreal Protocol, the hole in the ozone layer has lessened to a great
extent over the North hole. The results will soon be shown in the South Pole too.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 https://www.nrdc.org/stories/paris-climate-agreement-everything-you-need-know
 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Paris-Agreement-2015/Negotiations-and-agreement
 https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/international-actions-montreal-protocol-
substances-deplete-ozone-layer
 https://earth.org/the-kyoto-protocol/
 https://www.unenvironment.org/ozonaction/who-we-are/about-montreal-protocol

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