The implementation of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities within the Paris Agreement

This chapter analyses the implementation of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) under the Paris Agreement from a governance value perspective. It argues that the emerging framework for implementing CBDR under the Paris Agreement is flexible and proceduralised, and demonstrates thin governance values through the incorporation of mechanisms for transparency and compliance, which take into account the national circumstances of individual countries. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which opened for signature in May 1992, and the Kyoto Protocol, which opened for signature in December 1997, strongly reflect the importance given to the CBDR principle in the area of international environmental law at the end of the 20th century. Thus, there are significant limitations associated with both the multilateral consideration of progress and the global stocktake in terms of their creation of robust accountability mechanisms to hold states to account for their national emissions reduction goals.