International Climate Change Law in a Bottom-Up World

This research paper provides early reflections on the legal architecture of the Paris Agreement, specifically examining how its 'bottom-up' approach and 'ratcheting mechanism' will function to achieve global temperature goals.

• The Paris Agreement is recognized as a treaty under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and establishes legally binding obligations, yet it remains uncertain how the agreement will ensure parties achieve the goals of limiting global average temperature increases to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
• The author argues that the effectiveness of the treaty's 'ratcheting mechanism' depends on how Parties design the various review processes within the Paris Agreement.
• The transition to a bottom-up legal architecture, characterized by 'contributions' instead of 'commitments' and 'facilitated' rather than 'enforced' compliance, provides an opportunity to explore the functions of international climate change law beyond the enforcement of legal obligations.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2016). International Climate Change Law in a Bottom-Up World. https://www.sei.org/publications/international-climate-change-law-in-a-bottom-up-world/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. International Climate Change Law in a Bottom-Up World. 2016. https://www.sei.org/publications/international-climate-change-law-in-a-bottom-up-world/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=International Climate Change Law in a Bottom-Up World |date=25 March 2016 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/international-climate-change-law-in-a-bottom-up-world/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2016international, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{International Climate Change Law in a Bottom-Up World}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2016}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/international-climate-change-law-in-a-bottom-up-world/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }