Editing IPCC:AR6/WGIII/TS (section)

=== TS.6.2 International Cooperation ===

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'''International cooperation is having positive and measurable results (''' '''''high confidence''''' ''').''' The Kyoto Protocol led to measurable and substantial avoided emissions, including in 20 countries with Kyoto first-commitment period targets that have experienced a decade of declining absolute emissions. It also built national capacity for GHG accounting, catalysed the creation of GHG markets, and increased investments in low-carbon technologies. Other international agreements and institutions have led to avoided CO 2 emissions from land-use practices, as well as avoided emissions of some non-CO 2 greenhouse gases ( ''medium confidence'' ). {14.3, 14.5, 14.6}

'''New forms of international cooperation have emerged since AR5 in line with an evolving understanding of effective mitigation policies, processes, and institutions. Both new and pre-existing forms of cooperation are vital for achieving climate mitigation goals in the context of sustainable development (''' '''''high confidence''''' ''').''' While previous IPCC assessments have noted important synergies between the outcomes of climate mitigation and achieving sustainable development objectives, there now appear to be synergies between the two processes themselves ( ''medium confidence'' ). Since AR5, international cooperation has shifted towards facilitating national-level mitigation action through numerous channels, including though processes established under the UNFCCC regime and through regional and sectoral agreements and organisations. {14.2, 14.3, 14.5, 14.6}

'''Participation in international agreements and transboundary networks is associated with the adoption of climate policies at the national and sub-national levels, as well as by non-state actors (''' '''''high confidence''''' ''').''' International cooperation helps countries achieve long-term mitigation targets when it supports development and diffusion of low-carbon technologies, often at the level of individual sectors, which can simultaneously lead to significant benefits in the areas of sustainable development and equity ( ''medium confidence'' ). {14.2, 14.3, 14.5, 14.6}

'''International cooperation under the UN climate regime took an important new direction with the entry into force of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which strengthened the objective of the UN climate regime, including its long-term temperature goal, while adopting a different architecture to that of the Kyoto Protocol (''' '''''high confidence''''' ''').''' The core national commitments under the Kyoto Protocol were legally binding quantified emission targets for developed countries tied to well-defined mechanisms for monitoring and enforcement. By contrast, the commitments under the Paris Agreement are primarily procedural, extend to all parties, and are designed to trigger domestic policies and measures, enhance transparency, and stimulate climate investments, particularly in developing countries, and to lead iteratively to rising levels of ambition across all countries. Issues of equity remain of central importance in the UN climate regime, notwithstanding shifts in the operationalisation of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities’ from Kyoto to Paris. {14.3}

'''There are conflicting views on whether the Paris Agreement’s commitments and mechanisms will lead to the attainment of its stated goals (''' '''''medium confidence''''' ''').''' Arguments in support of the Paris Agreement are that the processes it initiates and supports will in multiple ways lead, and indeed have already led, to rising levels of ambition over time. The recent proliferation of national mid-century net zero GHG targets can be attributed in part to the Paris Agreement. Moreover, its processes and commitments will enhance countries’ abilities to achieve their stated level of ambition, particularly among developing countries. Arguments against the Paris Agreement are that it lacks a mechanism to review the adequacy of individual Parties’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), that collectively current NDCs are inconsistent in their level of ambition with achieving the Paris Agreement’s long-term temperature goal, that its processes will not lead to sufficiently rising levels of ambition in the NDCs, and that NDCs will not be achieved because the targets, policies and measures they contain are not legally binding at the international level. To some extent, arguments on both sides are aligned with different analytic frameworks, including assumptions about the main barriers to mitigation that international cooperation can help overcome. The extent to which countries increase the ambition of their NDCs and ensure they are effectively implemented will depend in part on the successful implementation of the support mechanisms in the Paris Agreement, and in turn will determine whether the goals of the Paris Agreement are met ( ''high confidence'' ). {14.2, 14.3, 14.4}

'''International cooperation outside the UNFCCC processes and agreements provides critical support for mitigation in particular regions, sectors and industries, for particular types of emissions, and at the sub- and trans-national levels (''' '''''high confidence''''' ''').''' Agreements addressing ozone depletion, transboundary air pollution, and release of mercury are all leading to reductions in the emissions of specific greenhouse gases. Cooperation is occurring at multiple governance levels including cities. Transnational partnerships and alliances involving non-state and sub-national actors are also playing a growing role in stimulating low-carbon technology diffusion and emissions reductions ( ''medium confidence'' ). Such transnational efforts include those focused on climate litigation; the impacts of these are unclear but promising. Climate change is being addressed in a growing number of international agreements operating at sectoral levels, as well as within the practices of many multilateral organisations and institutions. Sub-global and regional cooperation, often described as climate clubs, can play an important role in accelerating mitigation, including the potential for reducing mitigation costs through linking national carbon markets, although actual examples of these remain limited. {14.2, 14.4, 14.5, 14.6}

'''International cooperation will need to be strengthened in several key respects in order to support mitigation action consistent with limiting temperature rise to well below 2°C in the context of sustainable development and equity (''' '''''high confidence''''' ''').''' Many developing countries’ NDCs have components or additional actions that are conditional on receiving assistance with respect to finance, technology development and transfer, and capacity-building, greater than what has been provided to date. Sectoral and sub-global cooperation is providing critical support, and yet there is room for further progress. In some cases, notably with respect to aviation and shipping, sectoral agreements have adopted climate mitigation goals that fall far short of what would be required to achieve the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. Moreover, there are cases where international cooperation may be hindering mitigation efforts, namely evidence that trade and investment agreements, as well as agreements within the energy sector, impede national mitigation efforts ( ''medium confidence'' ). International cooperation is emerging but so far fails to fully address transboundary issues associated with solar radiation modification (SRM) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR). {14.2, 14.3, 14.4, 14.5, 14.6, Cross-Working Group Box 4 in Chapter 14}

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