Order and accountability in governing transforming environments

The Paris Agreement 2015 was mostly a success, given ongoing challenges to reconcile contests between the functions and capacities of sovereign states and the need to establish effective climate governance mechanisms. Sovereignty privileges states’ internal interests over external demands and limits their readiness to see themselves as accountable for climate change contributions. Climate governance mechanisms can be thwarted when states maintain their privileged status, but sovereignty also provides states with inherent responsibilities to protect. Accountability might therefore be regarded as the fulcrum for order as environmental transformations driven by climate change take them into uncharted governance territories. A regime complex is a step in the right direction for states as they confront new uncertainties regarding the sustainability of their societies and systems