For over 20 years international leaders have been meeting to try and agree on a means to address the threats posed by climate change. These meetings are mainly operated through the structures of the United Nations. The following sections describe the international agreements that have taken place on climate change.
The Convention on Climate Change sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by 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. The Convention enjoys near universal membership, with 192 countries having ratified.
The Convention entered into force on 21 March 1994. Under the Convention, governments:
Learn more about the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions .These amount to an average of five per cent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012. The major distinction between the Protocol and the Convention is that while the Convention encouraged industrialised countries to stabilize GHG emissions, the Protocol commits them to do so. Learn more about the Kyoto Protocol
The IPCC is the leading body for the assessment of climate change, established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic consequences.
The IPCC is a scientific body. It reviews and assesses the most recent scientific, technical and socio-economic information produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of climate change. It does not conduct any research nor does it monitor climate related data or parameters. Thousands of scientists from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC on a voluntary basis. Review is an essential part of the IPCC process, to ensure an objective and complete assessment of current information. Differing viewpoints existing within the scientific community are reflected in the IPCC reports.The assessment reports from the IPCC help to inform the international negotiations on climate change. Download the latest IPCC Assessment Report
The intergovernmental negotiation process primarily encompasses the Conference of the Parties (COP), the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP), Subsidiary Bodies meetings and a series of workshops.
The COP is the "supreme body" of the Convention. The CMP is the "supreme body" of the Kyoto Protocol. The Convention established two permanent subsidiary bodies: the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI). COP 15 in Copenhagen during December 2009 aimed to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. Whilst the conference was not as successful as many coutries had hoped it did result in the Copenhagen Accord. Many countries have signed up to this accord and 2010 will see further international meetings in Bonn, Germany in May and in Mexico in December to come to a more binding international agreement on climate change.
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