Part III Concluding Reflections, 24 Epilogue: Making the Transition from an International Agreement to a New Epoch of Human Prosperity in One Generation

Subject(s):

Climate change — Treaties, amendments and modification — Treaties, application — Treaties, binding force — Treaties, interpretation

This concluding chapter looks toward the large-scale transformation that needs to be done in order to achieve a state in which human activity is in balance with the climate system. It argues that the Paris Agreement alone will not be sufficient to bring about climate change. In doing so the chapter explores many other areas for improvement across all sectors of the global economy, arguing that meeting the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement is indeed possible, but only with unprecedented and deliberately sustained policy reform, rapid technological learning, and disruptive market and investment innovations for decades. The chapter also argues that despite the recent positive developments toward climate change, the framework conditions for success have not been fully established. It examines further options that can be done to accelerate this process and make use of the Paris Agreement to its fullest potential.