Submission to the Paris Agreement Implementation and Compliance Committee Regarding its Draft Rules of Procedure

The Paris Agreement Implementation and Compliance Committee (PAICC) is one of the core mechanisms established by Parties to hold themselves accountable for their treaty implementation actions. In Decision 20/CMA.1, the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA) requested the PAICC to develop its own Rules of Procedure for consideration and adoption by the CMA. The Rules of Procedure offer a unique opportunity to enhance the accountability relationships that can be established between the PAICC and Parties, in accordance with its facilitative, transparent, non-adversarial and non-punitive mandate.

The present submission comments on the draft Rules of Procedure published by the PAICC as Annex 2 to the report on its 5th meeting in August 2021. It builds on research conducted by the author on the negotiation of the Paris Agreement and of the Paris Rulebook since 2014 as well as enriching comments by Dr Joanna Depledge and Mr Miguel Saldivia, both of whom are also affiliated to the Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (C-EENRG). The author acts independently from any institution, in a spirit of constructive collaboration with the PAICC, and in light of the PAICC’s power to seek expert advice as needed. Proposed text is provided in bold and italics regarding 1) Draft Rule 22 (Significant and Persistent Inconsistencies), 2) Draft Rule 26 (Accessing Support), 3) Draft Rule 26 (Action Plans), and 4) Draft Rule 27 (Systemic Issues).