First United Nations Climate Change Convention

Answer

The first UN climate change convention is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, called UNFCCC. It was adopted at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and entered into force on 21 March 1994. Its main objective is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that prevents dangerous human interference with the climate system.

Current membership: 198 Parties listed by UNFCCC

Why it is called a “framework convention”

It is called a framework convention because it laid down the basic principles, objectives, institutions and responsibilities, but did not initially set detailed binding emission reduction targets for every country.

Later agreements were made under this framework, mainly:

1. Kyoto Protocol — 1997
2. Paris Agreement — 2015

The Paris Agreement was adopted at COP21 in Paris on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016. It is a legally binding treaty under the UNFCCC framework.

Main objective of UNFCCC

The objective is not simply to stop all emissions immediately. The Convention aims to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that prevents dangerous human interference with the climate system, while allowing ecosystems to adapt naturally, food production not to be threatened, and economic development to continue sustainably.

Key principle: CBDR-RC

Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities

This means all countries are responsible for climate protection, but developed countries should take the lead because they have historically emitted more greenhouse gases and generally have greater financial and technical capability.

Under the Convention, industrialized countries agreed to support climate action in developing countries through finance and technology transfer

COP under UNFCCC

COP means Conference of the Parties.

It is the supreme decision-making body of the UNFCCC. Countries meet at COP meetings to review implementation and negotiate further climate action.

Examples:

Maritime Relevance: The UNFCCC directly sets the global carbon reduction goals which are subsequently negotiated at the IMO level. Because international shipping moves across global boundaries, the UNFCCC delegated the responsibility of regulating and limiting greenhouse gas emissions from international marine bunker fuels to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) under Article 2.2 of the subsequent Kyoto Protocol (1997).