Table 2.

Comparing essential elements of the Paris Agreement with existing global AMR efforts

Essential elements	Paris Agreement	Global AMR efforts
(1) Collective global goal	Keep global temperature rise below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels	No consensus on what a common global goal could look like.
(2) Nationally determined contributions pledged, reviewed and ratcheted every 5 years	All parties must communicate their nationally determined contributions every five years, and, during revisions, aim for maximally ambitious goals. Nationally determined contributions are reviewed to ensure the distribution of responsibilities is fair and that countries are ambitious in their goals	All WHO member states committed to have national action plans for AMR. Even though this commitment is not legally binding, over 100 have such plans and many are under development No review process or ratcheting mechanism
(3) Regular reporting on activities and outcomes	All parties must regularly provide information on activities and outcomes, using methods that are articulated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change	WHO, FAO, OIE conduct self-assessment surveys on countries’ AMR activities. No regular reporting of outcomes No standard methodology for reporting outcomes
(4) Annual Conference of Parties	The UNFCCC’s Annual Conference of the Parties serves as the conference of parties for the Paris Agreement	AMR is normally discussed every 3 years at the World Health Assembly No formal or regular meeting
(5) Global scientific stocktake every 5 years	Requirement to take stock of the best available science every 5 years. This stocktaking exercise will help ensure that the agreement’s ongoing efforts are in line with scientific best practices	No relevant comparison
(6) Combination of binding obligations and recommended policies	Legally binding obligations are mostly procedural, but include some mandatory activities. The Paris Agreement makes recommendations for countries to maximize their contributions	The WHO, FAO, and OIE maintain a list of recommended policies for countries to include in their national action plans Nothing legally binding
(7) International legal framework	The Paris Agreement is a legally binding instrument of the UNFCCC. The UNFCCC provides a broader legal framework for the Paris Agreement	No international legal framework, although the constituting instruments of the WHO, FAO, OIE or UN could serve as the broader legal framework for a legally binding AMR agreement