Setting the Paris Agreement in Motion: Key Requirements for the Implementing Guidelines

This working paper by the Project for Advancing Climate Transparency (PACT) provides a vision and practical suggestions to help negotiators meet the December 2018 deadline for adopting the implementing guidelines, also known as the Paris Rulebook, for the Paris Agreement.

• The implementing guidelines, or the Paris Rulebook, are necessary to operationalize the Paris Agreement by creating a framework for how countries implement climate plans. The goal is to adopt these foundational elements by the December 2018 deadline at COP24 in Katowice, Poland.
• The Paris Agreement relies on an iterative cycle consisting of three phases: planning (developing and communicating NDCs and adaptation efforts), implementing (meeting contributions and reporting progress), and reviewing (technical expert reviews, multilateral sharing of best practices, and a global stocktaking of collective progress).
• To achieve effective implementation, the guidelines must be clear (so obligations are understood), robust (to ensure a level playing field), and cohesive (to incorporate linkages across different elements of the Agreement).
• Negotiators face several key challenges in adopting the guidelines, including balancing the need to reflect differences in national circumstances with the need for global climate progress, leveraging linkages between Agreement elements, and ensuring guidelines remain durable enough to be adjusted for scientific, technological, and societal changes.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Setting the Paris Agreement in Motion: Key Requirements for the Implementing Guidelines. https://www.wri.org/research/setting-paris-agreement-motion-key-requirements-implementing-guidelines

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Setting the Paris Agreement in Motion: Key Requirements for the Implementing Guidelines. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/setting-paris-agreement-motion-key-requirements-implementing-guidelines.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Setting the Paris Agreement in Motion: Key Requirements for the Implementing Guidelines |url=https://www.wri.org/research/setting-paris-agreement-motion-key-requirements-implementing-guidelines |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendsetting, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Setting the Paris Agreement in Motion: Key Requirements for the Implementing Guidelines}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/setting-paris-agreement-motion-key-requirements-implementing-guidelines}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }