This paper argues that the carbon budget approach (which is a combination of findings from climate science and economics with fundamental concepts of equity) could serve as a cornerstone for a future climate regime which is based on the concept of a low-carbon economy. The authors present the following general principles which could be the basis for a future climate regime:

the 2 degrees Celsius target should be adopted as legally binding
a global emission budget up to the year 2050 that is compatible with the 2 degrees target should be adopted as legally binding
the peak year of global emissions should be reached between 2015 and 2020 and with the narrow emission budget remaining post-2050
the global budget should be distributed on an equal per capita basis so that national budgets can be calculated for all countries and adopted on a legally binding basis
each country should be committed to produce internationally and objectively verifiable decarbonisation road maps, which provide information on the planned national emissions path up to the year 2050 
for the countries with presently high per capita emissions, reduction commitments up to 2020 should be agreed in order to avoid delaying de-carbonisation efforts
flexibility mechanismsas well as appropriate additional financial and technological transfers by the industrialised countries should be agreed upon.