Climate negotiations for a Kyoto Protocol substitute agreement: from the failure of Copenhagen to the Paris Agreement

Abstract

Negotiations for a binding agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol began in 2007. Following the failure of the 2009 Copenhagen Conference, negotiations stalled and there was little progress at the next meetings. The EU’s leadership in the fight against climate change, which sought to join a global alliance to the largest number of countries, was weakened by the US’s growing role, with a passive and even obstructionist stance, and China. Although the negotiations were backed up by the EU, it seems that the Paris Agreement was made possible by the greater involvement of the US and China, which makes many doubt that this is a truly successful outcome.