Climate Change: The Critical Decade
Climate Change: The Critical Decade
Scientific Committee
Alberto Alemanno, Luis Arroyo Zapatero, Frédéric Baab, Emmanuelle Barbara, Gilles Briatta, Laurent Cohen-Tanugi, Jean-Gabriel Flandrois, Emanuela Fronza, Aurélien Hamelle, Astrid Mignon Colombet, Nicolas Molfessis, Pierre-Louis Périn, Sébastien Pimont Pierre Servan-Schreiber and Jorge E. Viñuales.
Editors-in-chief
Hugo Pascal and Vasile Rotaru
Editorial Managers
Gilles Gressani and Mathéo Malik
Editorial Committee
Joachim-Nicolas Herrera, Anda Bologa, Dano Brossmann, Jean Chuilon-Croll and Francesco Pastro.
Foreword
Paris, Ten Years On: A Compass for a Faltering Decade
Ten years after the Paris Agreement, the numbers leave no room for illusion. The year 2024 was the hottest ever recorded, and the first to surpass, on average, +1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. 2025 has continued the trend, with abnormally warm oceans and record-breaking summers across southern Europe. The curves are no longer abstractions but scars: … Continued
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Foreword
Ten years since the Paris Agreement. Like any anniversary, this is an opportunity to take stock of the protection of what is undoubtedly the most significant existential challenge of this century—the climate and the environment—and to consider future prospects. Assessing the current situation and outlining goals for climate and environmental protection ten years after the … Continued
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The Paris Agreement turns 10 in the middle of a critical decade
In the decade since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in December 2015, international relations have changed beyond recognition. It would be tempting to see such change as a mere epiphenomenon, belonging to what Fernand Braudel famously dismissed, borrowing François Simiand’s terminology, as mere changes in the short-term history of ‘events’ (histoire événementielle), to contrast … Continued
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The Paris Agreement: Ten Years Later
Climate Change: The Role of Judges
“…it should be recalled that the Convention is a living instrument which must be interpreted in the light of present‑day conditions, and in accordance with developments in international law, so as to reflect the increasingly high standard being required in the area of the protection of human rights, thus necessitating greater firmness in assessing breaches … Continued
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The role of scientists in the fight against climate change
Scarcely a single intervention at meetings of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) omits a reference to the role of science in informing and guiding climate action. These are not just ritual tippings of the hat. The work of the scientific community has been and will continue to be foundational in diagnosing the … Continued
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The Judiciary and Climate: a decade of quiet development since the Paris Agreement
The multifaceted nature, international scope, and intergenerational implications of the global climate crisis demand an institutional response of unprecedented scale. This inherent complexity compels States to adapt continuously their legal frameworks. Traditional legal doctrines often prove insufficient when confronted with systemic challenges irreducible to simplistic solutions. As Mireille Delmas-Marty emphasised, it is imperative to devise … Continued
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The Role of Energy in Mitigating Climate Change: Looking Back and Looking Forward
Modern economies need a lot of energy. Although in advanced economies energy demand peaked several decades ago and has declined even as their economies grew, in other parts of the world there is still a need to increase energy consumption. Energy powers industrialisation, provides comfort and convenience to households, and is indispensable to modern digital … Continued
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The administrative judge and climate change
Ever since the 1992 Earth Summit and the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, climate law has gradually established itself as a major requirement of the international community. It aims to address a vital challenge for our societies by establishing principles for protecting the planet and clarifying each country’s obligations regarding … Continued
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We’ll Always Have Paris
As most readers will recognize, my title is taken from the 1942 movie, Casablanca. Near the end of the film, Rick (Humphrey Bogart) surprises his old lover Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) by putting her on an airplane to join her husband, resistance hero Victor Lazlo (Paul Henreid). Rick tells her that “it doesn’t take much to … Continued
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Critical Decade and International Dynamics
Europe’s climate ambition trailblazing a planetary transition
Ten years ago, the world came together in an extraordinary act of unity. In Paris, 196 countries agreed to a simple but powerful truth: the climate crisis cannot be solved by any single nation, it demands a united humanity. The Paris Agreement became one of the most enduring expressions of multilateral cooperation in modern history. … Continued
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America’s Withdrawal (Again) from the Paris Agreement: A Challenging New Era for the Global Response to Climate Change
President Trump has (again) moved to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. The global community, therefore, faces the challenge of mitigating climate change without American leadership or engagement – at least from the federal government. While this political reality makes the commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 harder to achieve, … Continued
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The ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement
The International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s Advisory Opinion on Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change, delivered on July 23, 2025, marks a pivotal moment in international climate change law, renewing the interpretation and role of the Paris Agreement in a way that better reflects its spirit. Addressing what the Court describes as an … Continued
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Brazil, the ecological transformation and COP30
“These are difficult times. But it has always been in difficult and challenging times that humanity has found the strength to face and overcome adversity. We need more trust and determination. We need stronger leadership to reverse the escalation of global warming. The agreements already made must be put into action.” (President Lula, speech delivered … Continued
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Africa’s Green Transition
In 2015, the 24th Ordinary Assembly of the Heads of State and Governments of the African Union adopted Agenda 2063, a transformational plan aimed at advancing economic, social and environmental development in Africa by the year 2063. One of the key goals of the Agenda is to achieve ‘environmentally sustainable and climate resilient economies and … Continued
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China and Global Climate Change Governance
Today’s world is in the midst of great changes that have not been seen in a century, and climate change has emerged as one of the most urgent global challenges. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement. Since the inception of international negotiations on climate change in 1990, humanity has embarked on … Continued
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Ten Years After Paris: Climate Action Depends on Cities
In December 2015, COP 21 made Paris the beating heart of the world. With its universal scope and the immense expectations it raised, this climate summit represented a historic moment of unity in the face of climate change. For the first time, 195 countries agreed on a common framework for combating global warming. This major … Continued
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New imaginaries and legal innovations
The quest for a Global Pact on Environmental Rights
Turning a new page in the history of diplomacy, the 1972 Stockholm Declaration placed environmental challenges at the forefront of international concerns. It solemnly outlines key principles that still resonate today. After stating in its preamble that “man is both creature and moulder of his environment,” it recognizes in Principle 1, on the one hand, … Continued
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Legal Theories of Liability for Climate Harm
This article provides a preliminary examination of perhaps the most complex aspect of the surge in climate litigation, namely the conceptualisation of liability for climate harm. The climate for speaking about the climate has changed very significantly in the last few years, and particularly in the last few months. The positions have become deeply polarised, … Continued
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The Habitability Principle
What is the purpose of law amid the unprecedented destruction of the conditions for life on Earth? This question arises as we reach the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, confronted with the contrast between, on one hand, unprecedented levels of global warming and the collapse of biodiversity, and on the other, … Continued
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Human rights: a pathway out of the climate crisis
I – The climate crisis is a human rights crisis In 2015, States adopted the Paris Agreement, agreeing to respect, promote and consider their human rights obligations when taking climate action. In the ten years since, there has been growing recognition that the climate crisis is a human rights crisis – and that human rights … Continued
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The Future of Environmental Liability: Criminal Law Aspects
Ten years after its adoption, the Paris Agreement remains a landmark in the history of the fight against climate change. Signed on December 12, 2015, at the end of COP21, in an atmosphere of gravity and hope, it embodies the moment when the international community united to acknowledge that rising temperatures posed an existential threat … Continued
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Empowering countries in their zero-carbon industrial journey
Ten years after the Paris Agreement, climate change mitigation policy discourse remains detached from practical policy implementation. On the one hand, the economic and legal literature on climate change emphasizes the role of economy-wide carbon pricing and the reduction of fossil fuel subsidies as the most efficient and effective way to reduce emissions. This stems … Continued
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Redefining climate action: the intellectual challenge taken up by Sciences Po’s Paris Climate School
In 2025, the environmental crisis is no longer an abstraction. Exceeding the targets set by the Paris Agreement—to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels—marks a historic turning point. Its effects are now part of everyday life: extreme heat waves, prolonged droughts, and natural disasters are disrupting the functioning of our societies and weakening … Continued
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The Role of Businesses in Fighting Global Warming
Faced with a critical decade, businesses have an essential role to play in helping to address social and environmental challenges that are more than just a simple evolution, but a veritable upheaval: global warming, biodiversity crisis, ever-increasing social inequalities, a geopolitical context undergoing rapid reconfiguration in a climate of unprecedented uncertainty, ideological fragmentation of political … Continued
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Ecocides: A Realistic Implementation Strategy
I – Ecocides The idea of establishing ecocide as a crime has been under discussion for over half a century. However, to date, we still lack a universally accepted legal definition that can address all the challenges posed by environmental protection on the planet. It also appears from academic debate and existing crimes of ecocide … Continued
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Postface
Joining forces to overcome global challenges
Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa 2025 will be a pivotal year for multilateralism. The challenges before us — rising inequalities, climate change, and the financing gap for sustainable development — are urgent and interconnected. Addressing them requires bold, coordinated action … Continued
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