This paper analyzes the renewal of the intellectual constructs that have contributed to the Paris Agreement. In this paradigm shift, the concept of Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) has created the space in which Nation-states have been free to engage in the process while setting their own goals for the medium term. A second key concept, the Deep Decarbonization Pathways (DDP), although less institutionalized, has been an effective tool to describe how these medium-term national targets were likely to fit into a longer-term perspective of global mitigation scenarios as studied in particular by the IPCC. The dialectical interaction between these two concepts should result in a more ambitious definition of national climate objectives and consequently in the design and implementation of stronger national climate policies.