A new period in climate policies: Paris Agreement and rights-based approach [İklim politiklarında yeni dönem: Paris Anlaşması ve hak temelli yaklaşım]

The Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015 as a result of international negotiations on climate going on for a quarter of a century since 1990 which had its ups and downs. Largely differing from the Kyoto Protocol that shaped the first period of international climate policies, the Paris Agreement is insufficient, as it is today, in combating climate change. Nevertheless, the Agreement still presents significant opportunities to combat climate change as a rights-based international instrument with its specific objective. The most important novelty introduced by the Agreement, unlike the top-to-bottom approach of the Kyoto Protocol that obliged limited number of countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emission for a limited period of time, is its bottom-to-top and universal approach where countries voluntarily determine their goals in reduction and where all countries have their obligations to fulfil. However, the Paris Agreement still introduces a climate regime which is less binding and seems to be open to voluntary contributions of countries. The Agreement also introduces a rights-based framework. In the preamble of the Agreement it is stated that combat against climate change must pay due attention to human rights, right to health; rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, the disabled and disadvantaged groups; right to development, gender equality, women’s empowerment, inter-generational justice, ecosystem integrity, protection of mother earth and biodiversity and climate justice. These are the principles that set the spirit of the Paris Agreement with the contribution of such civil society activists as local communities, women’s organizations, youth and environment organizations that followed negotiations with less developed countries. These principles stated in the preamble of the Agreement are significant in making the rights-based approach encompassing human rights to rights of nature as the major guide in international climate regime in coming years from gender to the rights of indigenous peoples, from participation to health.