Abstract The international community is not on track to achieve the Paris Agreement’s objectives. Global temperatures have already risen by more than 1.3°C, and greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase year after year. Nevertheless, the IPCC asserts that staying within the safe threshold remains achievable. Against this backdrop, and in light of the recent ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Obligation of States in respect of Climate Change, this paper examines the content and legal nature of the Paris Agreement’s long-term temperature goal. First, it analyses whether the legal threshold should be set at 1.5°C or 2°C. Second, by interpreting the Paris Agreement within the framework of international law, it identifies this temperature objective as the treaty’s object and purpose. Consequently, Article 2(1)(a) assumes a critical interpretive role. Moreover, drawing inspiration from Articles 18 and 26 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, this article upholds that states have an obligation to refrain from acts that would defeat this collective goal. Contrary to traditional perspectives, this article argues that this obligation applies both before and after the treaty’s entry into force. This commitment is characterized as an integral obligation of due diligence.
Didac Amat (Tue,) studied this question.