10 Years of the Paris Agreement

Ten years ago, the world came together in an extraordinary moment of unity and adopted the Paris Agreement. Nearly every nation agreed that the climate crisis demanded collective action and that our shared future depended on it. The Paris Agreement set a direction grounded in science, cooperation, and a belief that humanity could rise to the challenge.

A decade later, we’ve made real progress. According to the IPPC, under current policies the world is heading toward roughly 2.7–3.0 °C of warming, full implementation of Paris Agreement pledges would lower that to about 2.4–2.6 °C, and without the Paris Agreement we would likely be facing 3.5–4.5 °C by the end of the century. Besides, some businesses, cities, and communities have stepped up with a level of leadership that didn’t exist in 2015. This is proof of what’s possible when ambition meets commitment.

But it’s also clear that our work is far from done.

Global emissions remain too high. Extreme weather events still happen more often than ever, displacing populations. 

The past ten years showed us that change is possible. The next ten will determine whether we change fast enough.

We now face a moment that calls for more than incremental improvement, it calls for courage, creativity, and collective resolve. We have the tools. We have the knowledge. And we have a responsibility to act with the urgency this moment demands.

As we mark a decade since Paris, let’s honor the milestone with renewed purpose. The Agreement gave us direction, momentum, and a shared global vision, but it did not provide enforceable consequences when ambition falls short. And if the past ten years have taught us anything, it is that climate action cannot rely on voluntary promises alone.

The next chapter should not only strengthen states’ obligations, it should re-anchor climate action in human rights.

Across the world, courts and institutions are increasingly recognizing that individuals have a right to a stable climate and a safe environment. This evolving body of jurisprudence, from the Klimaseniorinnen ruling of the European Court of Human Rights to the recent advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, makes one thing clear: human rights are not separate from climate action, they are one of its foundations.

When we view climate obligations through the lens of human rights, a deeper form of accountability emerges. States are no longer merely encouraged to act; they hold duties toward their citizens. And citizens are not passive beneficiaries of climate policy, they are guardians of it. They monitor, mobilize, and, when necessary, hold institutions accountable.

Embedding environmental rights at the heart of the global climate framework would strengthen ambition, clarify obligations, and empower societies to ensure that commitments are not only made, but kept.