The International Court of Justice on the mitigation obligations in the Paris Agreement

Journal article

This article examines the ICJ’s interpretation of the Paris Agreement’s core mitigation obligations to determine how, on what basis, and to what effect the ICJ disciplined national determination in the operation of the Paris Agreement. In so doing it analyses the extent to which the ICJ’s interpretation strengthens the legal character of the Paris Agreement’s mitigation obligations. It argues that while the ICJ’s interpretation strengthened the legal character of the Paris Agreement’s mitigation obligations along some dimensions, notably normative content, language, and precision, along the dimensions of oversight and review, national determination is still dominant, thus potentially diluting the operational impact of the ICJ’s robust reframing of the Paris Agreement’s mitigation obligations.

Authors: Rajamani, L

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Wiley
• Journal: Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law
• Publication date: 2026-04-03
• Acceptance date: 2026-03-12
• DOI: 10.1111/reel.70052
• EISSN: 2050-0394
• ISSN: 2050-0386
• Language: English