Chapter 3 analyses the normativity of sustainable development in international law and politics as expressed beyond the questions on its present (domestic) manifestations or the endless struggle to place the concept within general legal (normative) registers. It highlights how international law tends to subordinate non-Western experiences in its elevation of sustainable development into a global standard. What emerges from this process is that the more the world pursues sustainable development in its current form, the more we unwittingly contribute to the global dissemination of a particular strand of Eurocentrism. Sustainable development thus reveals itself as an amalgam of power and knowledge while simultaneously establishing itself as a vital component in international legal governance. What emerges in this chapter is that, although the concept of sustainable development is always at the forefront of international public discourse, little is done, in fact, to achieve its presumed objectives. Thus, while sustainable development’s quick ascent to become a universalist concept is central to this book, the concept’s character must be understood as quietly operating to mute global ecological violence that disproportionately affects marginalised peoples in the Global South.

Magnificent piece of statecraft though it is, the Paris Agreement is unlikely to spare us from a future climate reckoning. Paris can be seen as the successor to a series of prior global emissions limitation agreements including the breathtakingly effective Montreal Protocol that addressed the cause of the “ozone hole” and the Kyoto Protocol, the world’s first attempt to address climate change. Kyoto collapsed in failure and Paris was therefore midwifed with the Kyoto lessons in mind. We then delve into the structure, status, and limitations of the Paris Agreement before looking ahead to how it might evolve.