the paris agreement is ambitious in its scope aiming to limit climate change to as little as c global mean temperature change targeting a balance of atmospheric greenhouse gases ghgs by the second half of the century and expecting progressively more ambitious mitigation commitments from all states party to the treaty over the coming decades it is also novel in its approach all member states will be legally bound to make commitments but each state will determine the nature of its commitment and is not legally bound to deliver the policies that they comprise the agreements novelty has led some critics to question whether it will deliver against its ambition