The term ‘climate accountability’ refers to holding accountable all entities causing climate change. This also includes developed nations accelerating the climate change phenomenon due to their unsustainable development practices and individuals running carbon-emitting vehicles on roads. There are three levels of climate accountability: international, national, and individual.

At the international level, climate accountability can be ensured through international law, mainly through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The historical background of the UNFCCC can be traced back to 1992 when, for the first time, states gathered during the ‘Earth Summit’ to discuss the environmental impacts on our planet in relation to economic advancement. This first step led to subsequent developments in the UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The UNFCCC's regular annual negotiations resulted in the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, which is considered a remarkable victory because 196 nations adopted it and committed to reducing their carbon emissions to keep the global temperature below 2 C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels. It is also the main source of international law that governs the climate change problem.

Under the Paris Agreement,........

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