United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) considers what can be done to reduce global warming and to cope with inevitable temperature increases. A number of nations have approved an addition to the treaty: the Kyoto Protocol, which has more powerful and legally binding measures. The UNFCCC Secretariat supports the institutions involved in the climate change process, particularly the Convention of the Parties (COP), the subsidiary bodies and their Bureau.
The Convention on Climate Change sets an framework for intergovernmental efforts to respond to climate change. It recognizes that the climate system is a shared resource whose stability can be affected by industrial and other emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. 189 countries have ratified the Convention, which entered into force on 21 March 1994.
Under the Convention, governments, collect and share information on greenhouse gas emissions, national policies and best practices; launch national strategies for addressing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to expected impacts, including the provision of financial and technological support to developing countries; and cooperate in preparing for adaptation to the impacts of climate change.
Kyoto Protocol
The 1997 Kyoto Protocol shares the Convention’s objective, principles and institutions, but strengthens the Convention by committing Annex I Parties to individual, legally-binding targets to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and provides economic and market mechanisms to assist in those reductions. Only Parties to the Convention that have also become Parties to the Protocol (i.e by ratifying, accepting, approving, or acceding to it) are bound by the Protocol’s commitments. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted at COP 3 in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 , 171 countries have ratified it, and it entered into force on 16 February 2005.
35 countries and the European Economic Community (EEC) are required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions below levels specified for each of them in the treaty. The individual targets for Annex I Parties are listed in the Kyoto Protocol’s Annex B. These add up to a total cut in greenhouse-gas emissions of at least 5% from 1990 levels in the commitment period 2008-2012.
The complexity of the negotiations meant there was unfinished matters even after the Kyoto Protocol itself was adopted. The Protocol provided the basic structures of its mechanisms and compliance system, but did not explain how the rules would operate. Although 84 countries signed the Protocol, indicating that they intended to ratify, many were reluctant to ratify and bring the Protocol into force before having a clearer picture of the treaty’s rulebook.
A new round of negotiations occurred for the Kyoto Protocol’s rulebook, in parallel with negotiations on ongoing issues under the Convention. This round finally culminated at COP 7 with the adoption of the Marrakesh Accords, which set out detailed rules for the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol up to 2012.
Further Negotiations for the post-2012 period
The third session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG) will be held from 14-18 May. The third workshop under the Dialogue on long-term cooperative action to address climate change by enhancing implementation of the Convention took place from 16-17 May 2007, and deals with the period after 2012.
References
- Website for the UNFCC
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