ACT 2015 (Inactive)

The Paris Agreement, agreed in December 2015, unites 195 nations to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries. The central aim of the Paris Agreement is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping global temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit temperature increase to 1.5°C. The Agreement also aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change.

ACT 2015’s Approach

The Agreement for Climate Transformation 2015 (ACT 2015) was a consortium of the world’s top climate experts from developing and developed countries that worked together to catalyze discussion and build momentum for the Paris Agreement. Prior to adoption of the Paris Agreement, ACT 2015 conducted in-depth research and global engagement with key stakeholders to explore core elements of the Agreement, identify options to overcome political challenges, and highlight opportunities to address them in an ambitious and effective post-2020 regime.

To inform ACT 2015’s analysis, the consortium presented options for the Agreement, including three potential propositions for the overall structure of the agreement, in a series of convenings and workshops around the world. The workshops were held in a wide range of developed countries, major emerging economies, least developed countries, and small island developing states. In ACT 2015’s workshops, the consortium engaged stakeholders and decision makers and enabled leaders from government, business and civil society to understand the implications of various options for the Agreement and links to national priorities.

Based on ACT 2015’s in-depth research and wide range of inputs gained through the workshops, the consortium combined its findings into a proposal that was launched in December 2014 at the 20th Conference of the Parties (COP 20) in Lima, Peru. This proposal, “Elements and Ideas for the 2015 Paris Agreement”, illustrates how the international agreement can play an effective role in shifting the world toward a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy in a fair and timely manner.

Based on that working paper, as well as further analysis and consultations, the ACT 2015 consortium ultimately developed a proposed set of suggestions for the legal text for the Paris Agreement entitled, "Getting Specific on the 2015 Climate Change Agreement: Suggestions for the Legal Text with an Explanatory Memorandum." This paper provided key inputs and textual explanation to policymakers, negotiators and wider stakeholders during the drafting stage of the Paris Agreement. An overwhelming majority of the Paris Agreement reflects the legal text put forward by ACT 2015.

ACT 2015’s Partners and Funders

ACT 2015 partners included: Ateneo School of Government (The Philippines), E3G (Third Generation Environmentalism) (United Kingdom), Ecofys (Germany), Energeia, Institute for European Studies – Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium), New Climate Institute, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (The Netherlands), Tsinghua University (China), and Youba Sokona.

Project funders included: European Commission, International Policies and Politics Initiative (IPPI) via the Climate Works Foundation, and Prospect Hill Foundation.

ACT 2015 Publications (in reverse chronological order)

• Staying on Track from Paris: Advancing the Key Elements of the Paris Agreement
• Infographic: On Track from Paris
• How to Strengthen the Institutional Architecture for Capacity Building to Support the Post-2020 Climate Regime
• Getting Specific on the 2015 Climate Change Agreement: Suggestions for the Legal Text with an Explanatory Memorandum
• Realizing the Cycles: Analysis of the Co-Chairs’ Tool for Cycles of Improvement
• Analysis of October Co-Chairs Text with proposed landing zones for agreement elements
• Political Economy of the Paris Agreement
• Elements and Ideas for the 2015 Paris Agreement
• Enhancing Bold Collective Action: A Variable Geometry and Incentives Regime
• The 2015 Climate Agreement: Concepts and Considerations on Its Legal Architecture
• Aligning Finance to Deliver Climate Ambition and Climate Resilience in a 2015 Climate Agreement
• Race to the Top: Driving Ambition in the Post-2020 International Climate Agreement
• Characteristics of Mitigation Commitments
• Three Implementation Pathways for a 2015 International Climate Agreement
• Options for a Compliance Mechanism in a 2015 Climate Agreement
• Improving Transparency and Accountability in the Post-2020 Climate Regime: A Fair Way Forward
• Options for Adaptation and Loss & Damage in a 2015 Climate Agreement
• Coordinating Global Action for an Ambitious Climate Outcome
• Three Propositions for a 2015 International Climate Agreement
• Analysis Beyond IPCC AR5: Net Phase Out of Global and Regional Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Reduction Implications for 2030 and 2050

Disclaimer: The documents without links are provided as supplemental material and have not been reviewed for quality by World Resources Institute.

To access electronic copies of publications not linked above, please email Nathan Cogswell.

ACT 2015 Partner Publications

• Designing National Commitments to Drive Measurable Emissions Reductions After 2020 (WRI)
• A Pathway to a Climate Change Agreement in 2015: Options for Setting and Reviewing GHG Emission Reduction Offers (WRI)
• Building International Climate Cooperation (WRI)
• Building the Climate Change Regime (WRI)
• Possible elements of a 2015 legal agreement on climate change (IDDRI)
• Feasibility of GHG emissions phase-out by mid-century (Ecofys)
• Regional GHG reduction targets based on effort sharing: a comparison of studies (Ecofys)
• Towards a policy menu to strengthen the ambition to mitigate greenhouse gases (Ecofys)

Disclaimer: The documents without links are provided as supplemental material and have not been reviewed for quality by World Resources Institute.

To access electronic copies of publications not linked above, please email Nathan Cogswell.