Introduction

The 21st Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC adopted the Paris Agreement on December 12, 2015. It has been hailed as a historic agreement, primarily because all countries, including the USA had agreed to sign it, and at present, 118 Parties, including the USA have ratied the agreement. Their combined emissions account for 80.05 percent of the global emissions, and the agreement has entered into force much before it was anticipated on November 4, 2016. The 22nd Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC held in Marrakech, adopted the Marrakech Action Proclamation, which primarily reiterated the commitment of countries to implement the Paris Agreement and agreed on timelines for the Paris Committee to come up with a Rule Book for effective implementation of the agreement to be ready for adoption at the 24th Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC to be held in November-December 2018. Therefore, the many contentious issues that still remain unresolved, will need further work by the Parties to the UNFCCC for implementing the Paris Agreement in a manner that would enable the achievement of its overarching goals enunciated in Article 2. India's role in this regard is crucial. This is because despite its gross emissions being among the highest in the world, it is a country with very low per capita emissions as well as high levels of poverty and deprivation. India is striving to overcome its developmental decits and is now among the fastest growing economies in the world. However, after having signed on to the Paris Agreement, it needs to move along a developmental pathway that would be consistent with its contributions albeit in the context of fairness as well as equitable burden sharing towards a global effort to avoid dangerous climate change. It is keeping in mind this background that this paper has been written.

The paper is divided into three sections, followed by a short conclusion. The rst section covers all key elements of the agreement and discusses, while focusing on the key elements of the agreement, the various issues that need further negotiation among Parties for being able to agree upon the modalities of implementing the agreement. The second section discusses the implications of the key elements of the Paris Agreement and the modalities still to be negotiated in the days, months and years to come, upon India. The third section focuses on the state of India's preparedness and actions that need to be taken to overcome the gaps as well as identify actors that would be responsible for taking these actions.