The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2017

28 JULY-AUGUST 2017 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL neither dictates a U.S. emis- sions target nor imposes financial contributions; targets are nationally deter- mined, and contributions are voluntarily decided by each country. Rather, the agreement’s legally binding elements essentially involve submitting an updated national target on a five-year cycle—a target that is entirely self- determined, and for which there is no penalty if exceeded—and continuing to provide information that the United States already makes public. Indeed, the agreement extends emission-reporting requirements to developing countries (with flexibility for those that need it in light of their capacity), eliminating a prior dispar- ity on information sharing. But though the targets are not legally binding, they can pro- vide useful signals to other countries and to investors, inventors and entrepreneurs. And many countries are acting to provide such signals. Singapore, a country whose economy depends significantly on oil refining and trading, announced in February that, as of 2019, it will institute Southeast Asia’s first carbon tax on the country’s largest emitters. Over the past year, India has added twice as much renewables capacity as coal capacity. Even Saudi Arabia, the world’s top exporter of crude oil, launched the first stage of a planned $50 billion renewable-energy procure- ment program in early 2017. One of the more unusual features of the Paris Agreement (or more accurately, its accompanying Decision) is its emphasis on the role of non-state actors: the private sector, subnational gov- ernments, environmental and development advocacy groups, the faith community, trade unions, labor, youth groups, aca- demia and civil society writ large. Among other provisions, the Decision calls for a high-level event featuring non-state actors at each annual climate negotiations conference through 2020. In addition, to help strengthen synergies among these groups, the Decision provides that a “champion” will be appointed each year by the nation that is taking up the presidency of the annual climate negotiations. Each champion serves for two years, over- lapping for a year with the champion appointed in the prior year. At the 2016 climate negotiations, the inaugural champions (from France and Morocco) launched the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action to provide a “consistent and structured approach” for advancing the work of non-state actors. In May 2017, the current champions (fromMorocco and Fiji) issued additional details of the structured approach. Climate Action Beyond the Paris Agreement: A Taxonomy The Paris Agreement is the central element of international action on cli- mate, but there are innumerable others. Some of these elements are associated with the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, under which the Paris Agreement was adopted, but state and non-state actors alike are engaged on climate issues in ways that go far beyond the Paris provisions. Indeed, the variety of state, non-state and hybrid entities engaging on climate issues is cause for both hope and confusion. To help dispel the latter, we offer the following somewhat idiosyncratic taxonomy to map the various kinds of activities now underway, with some illustra- tive but far from comprehensive examples. New examples are already arising in the United States in the wake of Pres. Trump’s Paris withdrawal announcement, such as the United States Climate Alliance comprising U.S. states that aim to reduce emissions consistent with the national target that had been previously announced by Pres. Obama. As of this writing, 12 states accounting for more than a quarter of the U.S. population and nearly a third of its GDP had joined this alliance. The taxonomy described below has three main branches: (1) Paris Agreement “Relatives” —entities that are mentioned in or that are explicitly focused on implementation of the Paris Agree- ment; (2) Non-Paris Multilateral Initiatives , some of which also involve non-state actors; and (3) Non-State Actor Initiatives in the private sector, in the subnational government sector or in civil society (some of these initiatives involve national govern- ments, as well). Examples from each of the main branches and sub-branches follow. w Paris Agreement “Relatives” Clean Technology Center &Network . CTC&N, the operational armof the UNFCCC Technology Mechanism, promotes the “accel- erated transfer of environmentally sound technologies for low- carbon and climate-resilient development” in response to specific requests fromdeveloping countries for advice on technologies, capacity building and policy, legal and regulatory matters. NDC Partnership. Launched at the 2016 UNFCCC climate conference in Marrakech, the partnership is chaired by Morocco The good news is that the cost of low-carbon energy, particularly renewables, has plummeted over the last decade.