An EU Law Perspective on the Paris Agreement: Will the EU Consider Strengthening Its Mitigation Effort?

The European Union is the only party to the UNFCCC that is a regional organization. The European Union’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, submitted on behalf of itself and its member states, contains a pledge to reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 per cent by 2030 compared with 1990 levels, in pursuit of the general objective to keep the global average temperature increase below 2°C. Given, however, that the Paris Agreement aims not only to hold the increase ‘well below’ 2°C, but also to ‘pursue efforts’ to limit the increase to 1.5°C, one wonders whether the outcome of cop 21 may lead the European Union to a reconsideration — with possibly a strengthening — of the mitigation effort proposed in its INDC.