10 year-anniversary: What has the Paris Agreement achieved?

Armelle Le Comte
Aug 22
4 min read

In December 2015, for the first time in history, nearly 200 nations adopted a landmark agreement to tackle climate change, recognizing the global threat it poses. Contrary to the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement is universal, which means all countries have committed to collectively limit global warming “to well below 2°C” and “pursue efforts” to keep it below 1.5°C – considering their “differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities”.

Ten years later, multilateralism is in crisis, conflicts and international tensions are numerous, while many countries are experiencing a backlash against climate policies. In the meantime, climate change is intensifying around the globe, from deadly heatwaves to droughts, from flash floods to sea level rise. While the most vulnerable communities are on the forefront of its impacts, no country is immune to the consequences of climate change.

So, has the Paris Agreement delivered on its promises? What lessons can we learn for the future?

Historic promises…

When the French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius (and President of COP21) gaveled the Paris Agreement with his green hammer on the evening of the 12^th of December 2015, there was a sense of excitement, even pride, in the environment community but also in many political circles. After the

failure of the Copenhagen summit in 2009, there had been momentum from 2014 to secure a success in Paris: a bilateral climate agreement between the USA and China in 2014, several interim negotiations in 2015 and the submission by all countries of their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) ahead of COP21 – a key element to engage them early on.

The Agreement set out ambitious targets and innovative principles:

Global temperature goal: limit global warming “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and “pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C” – small island developing states, already affected by climate change (sea level rise in particular), fought hard to secure this target.
Climate finance: rich countries pledged to mobilize US$100 billion annually by 2020 to support developing nations “with respect to both mitigation and adaptation”; countries also agreed to shift financial flows “consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development”.
Global Goal on Adaptation: global commitment to increase adaptation efforts worldwide, by developing measurable targets and guidelines, and drive more finance.
Loss & Damages: recognized in the Paris Agreement (different from adaptation) but with no compensation.
Ambition mechanism: countries must submit their national plans (NDCs) every 5 years, with each plan being more ambitious than the previous one.
Global stocktake: Countries agreed to report progress regularly, with a global stocktake every five years to assess collective action.

… that hit the wall of implementation

The Paris Agreement has triggered some positive changes:

Public awareness about climate change has increased, particularly among younger generations, with more media coverage for both extreme weather events and solutions. With all their shortcomings, COPs contribute to keeping the topic high on the political agenda every year.
Growth of Clean Energy: Global investment in renewable energy hit record highs in recent years, surpassing fossil fuel investment in many regions. The cost of solar and wind has plummeted, and electric vehicle adoption is accelerating. In Southeast Asia, clean energy now accounts for almost half of energy investment. In 2023, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia were the world’s largest solar PV manufacturers after China.
Mobilization of a wide range of non-state actors, from cities to public institutions and private companies. However, the multiplication of coalitions, sometimes with a mix of public and private actors, makes it difficult to assess progress.
Most countries have submitted new NDCs (and a new wave is ongoing ahead of COP30 in Brazil). The EU and the UK have enshrined net-zero targets in their climate plans.

But overall progress is far from sufficient. In terms of global emissions, the results are actually sobering: according to a recent scientific report, limiting global warming to 1.5°C is now impossible. As things stand, we are heading towards a global temperature rise of 2.6-3.1°C by the end of this century.

Climate finance remains inadequate to reduce emissions and fund adaptation needs, particularly in developing countries. Rich nations have struggled to deliver their US$100 billion goal on time and there are still controversies about the reality of their fundings (loans vs. grants, climate element of development projects). As for the private sector, an analysis of the world’s largest banks shows fossil fuel financing climbed to US$869bn in 2024, an increase of $162bn on the previous year.

If the Paris Agreement remains a compass for national climate policies, it has hit some serious obstacles over the last decade: the US left the agreement twice (most recently in 2025 with Donald Trump’s reelection), conservative and often climate skeptic candidates won elections (Jair Bolsonaro, Javier Milei), a global pandemic and conflicts, including in Europe, diverted funds away. The last two COPs took place in petro-states and failed to secure an ambitious commitment to phase out of fossil fuels.

It is not too late, but time is running out

Ten years later, the Paris Agreement remains a diplomatic miracle but without national political will, it will fail to deliver in the long run. The task ahead of us is monumental : according to UNEP, greenhouse gas emissions must decrease by 57% by 2035 to limit global warming to 1.5°C, which represents a reduction of 7.5% every single year until 2035, “a figure that will grow with each year of inaction”.

Action must be accelerated on all fronts: put a stop to fossil fuel expansion, scale up climate finance for both mitigation and adaptation (especially in developing countries), rethink economic systems and accelerate innovation. The next COP in Bélem, Brazil, will face many challenges to deliver a concrete implementation framework.

Sources :