1. The “Paris Agreement,” a new climate change agreement, was adopted at the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21), held in Paris, France, after two weeks of final negotiations. The COP21 ended one day after the original deadline.

o The Paris Agreement replaces the Kyoto Protocol, due to expire in 2020. Once the Paris Agreement goes into effect, it will have all countries participate in the global response to climate change, with emphasis being placed on developed countries’ leadership role.

2. The agreement among the Parties was reached after intense debate at ministerial-level consultations, which extended into early morning due to disagreements among countries over various issues, including differentiation between developed and developing countries, who provides financial support to developing countries and how, and ways to set global long-term goals.

o In the process of reaching the agreement, developing countries stressed that the dichotomy of developed and developing countries needs to be maintained, citing developed countries’ historical responsibility for climate change, and that developed countries need to provide financial support for developing countries’ mitigation efforts, and make more efforts to meet technology transfer obligations.

o Developed countries stressed developing countries’ growing responsibility, and called for the establishment of a strong implementation and review system, where a periodic review of implementation of mitigation targets is conducted and targets can be raised.

3. The key elements of the Paris Agreement are as follows.

o [Long-term goal] The agreement aims to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 ℃ above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 ℃ above pre-industrial levels.

o [Mitigation] Under the agreement, all Parties shall submit their nationally determined contributions (NDC) with their highest possible ambition every five years and increase their level of ambition over time (principle of progression), taking into account their common but differentiated responsibilities and different national circumstances.

o [Carbon market] Under the agreement, Parties agree to establish various forms of mechanisms for the global carbon market to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets more effectively, recognizing voluntary cooperation among countries concerned, in addition to the carbon market mechanism in the context of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

o [Review of implementation] Parties shall take stock of the implementation of the Paris Agreement every five years to assess the international community’s collective progress towards achieving the purpose of the Agreement and its long-term goals (global stocktake). Parties shall undertake the first global stocktake in 2023.

o [Adaptation] Noting the importance of adaption to climate change, all Parties shall set their national adaptation plans and submit reports on such plans and implementation to share information on each government’s adaptation policies and implementation cases.

- The agreement also addresses the issue of “loss and damage,” associated with the adverse effects of climate change, in a separate article.

o [Financial resources] Concerning financial resources to support developing country Parties’ implementation, the agreement stipulates that developed country Parties shall provide financial resources, and encourages voluntary contributions of other Parties.

o [Technology] As climate technology support is critical for developing countries’ participation in GHG mitigation under the new climate regime, Parties shall expand and strengthen cooperation on technology development and transfer, including through the Technology Mechanism (Technology Executive Committee (TEC) and Climate Technology Center and Network (CTCN)).

4. The Paris Agreement can enter into force after at least 55 Parties to the Convention accounting in total for at least an estimated 55 percent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions deposit their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

5. At the COP21, Green Technology Center President Sung Chang-mo was elected as a member of the Technology Executive Committee, which is the UNFCCC Technology Mechanism’s policy-making organization. This is expected to enable more active participation by the ROK.


*unofficial translation