Although the Paris Agreement rules that states must all do what they can to keep global warming below 1.5°C, it does not provide binding requirements on how they should do so, in accordance with the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities”. It also does not bind corporations, who are the world’s largest GHG emitters. Although the Paris Agreement and the NDCs are the best climate framework we have been able to develop to this day, there are ways in which they could be strengthened. We could establish clear minimum emission requirements, for instance, or apply a similar framework of NDCs to large businesses.

One of the biggest challenges in setting out frameworks to address climate change is determining how to attribute responsibility and how to share the burden of emission reduction measures. Despite the fact that not all states are equally responsible for the climate crisis and do not have the same ability to respond to it, under the Paris Agreement they must all do what they can to keep global warming below 1.5°C.