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COP21 – a successful ‘end of the beginning

The Paris Agreement provides a clear signal and a solid framework for climate action. Balanced and ambitious in its objectives – including full decarbonization of the global economy before the end of the century – it has all the conditions to encourage everyone to do more.

In establishing a new international climate change regime, the Agreement focuses on the essentials: guiding countries towards low-carbon and climate resilient economies. The main challenge resides not in the direct implementation of the decisions taken in Paris, but rather in the alignment of countries’ national strategies with a decarbonization trajectory.

COP21 marks the advent of a new regime of international cooperation rather than a ‘utopian’ and politically unpalatable system to punish or coerce States to take action. It confirms the desire to engage both State and non-State actors on climate action. In this respect, it is a real victory of multilateralism.

Indeed, COP21 marks the “end of the beginning” of a long negotiations process to shift to a permanent regime, completed by regular appointments to boost ambition. This victory, however, will become historical only if this cooperation leads to enhanced action and concrete results. And this is where the hard work begins!

COP21 – a successful ‘end of the beginning Download
I4CE Contacts
Hadrien HAINAUT
Hadrien HAINAUT
Team Lead – Landscape of climate finance and energy scenarios Email
Vivian DEPOUES, PhD
Vivian DEPOUES, PhD
Research Lead – Adaptation to climate change Email
Benoît LEGUET
Benoît LEGUET
Managing Director Email
To learn more
  • 07/24/2025 Blog post
    Can the next EU budget point the way to an investment plan for climate transition?

    Commission President von der Leyen announced a €2 trillion EU budget fit “for a new era,” set to launch for a seven-year period in 2028. As EU-watchers in Brussels and beyond scrambled to digest the reams of legislative proposals that followed this headline-grabbing announcement, much in the detail should give pause – especially from the perspective of closing the EU’s climate investment deficit.

  • 07/09/2025 Blog post
    What’s next for climate finance? From Seville to Belém

    With the dust settling from COP29’s hard-fought negotiations on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), attention is shifting to how the climate finance goal will be met. The challenge is how to scale up financing for increasingly connected priorities in a challenging landscape of debt stress and cuts in official development assistance.

  • 07/08/2025
    Annex 2 – Methodology note (2025 Edition)
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