1486 UNSW Law Journal Volume 39(4) 11 THE PARIS AGREEMENT: SOME CRITICAL REFLECTIONS ON PROCESS AND SUBSTANCE MARGARETHA WEWERINKE-SINGH* AND CURTIS DOEBBLER** I INTRODUCTION At the 21st Conference of the Parties (‘COP21’) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (‘UNFCCC’ or ‘Convention’),1 195 states and the European Union adopted the Paris Agreement.2 The Agreement, which was attached as an annex to a decision of the Conference of the Parties (‘COP’), opened for signature on 22 April 2016 at the United Nations (‘UN’) Headquarters in New York 3 and has since been signed by 191 states. The Agreement enters into force on the 30th day after at least 55 parties, representing at least 55 per cent of global emissions, have ratified it. 4 This ratification threshold was crossed on 5 October 2016, and accordingly the Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016.5 Of the 81 states that have ratified the * Lecturer in Environmental Law, University of the South Pacific, School of Law, Vanuatu,
[email protected]. Dr Wewerinke-Singh was an adviser to the Government of Vanuatu at the Paris and Bonn negotiations, but the views expressed in this article are personal. ** Professor of Law (visiting), University of Makeni Faculty of Law, Sierra Leone,
[email protected]. Dr Doebbler was a representative of International-Lawyers.Org, a non-governmental organisation accredited to the United Nations and the African Union at the Paris negotiations and various other negotiation sessions, but the views expressed in this article are personal. 1 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, opened for signature 9 May 1992, 1771 UNTS 107 (entered into force 21 March 1994) (‘UNFCCC’).