Structure of a 2015 Climate Change Agreement

Governments are aiming to produce a new global climate change agreement in 2015 in Paris. Past outcomes of the UN climate negotiations—like many other multilateral environmental regimes—consist of packages containing different types of instruments. It is likely that the outcome of the ongoing Durban Platform negotiations will, likewise, be comprised of multiple instruments. This brief provides an overview of: 1) the structure of earlier climate packages; 2) key considerations bearing on the choice of instruments in a Paris outcome; and 3) the range of instruments available to parties.