Climate Change & UNFCCC COP Summits
International climate governance is coordinated under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), adopted at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. The Conference of the Parties (COP) serves as the supreme decision-making body, meeting annually to negotiate greenhouse gas mitigation and climate adaptation targets. The landmark 1997 Kyoto Protocol introduced legally binding emission reduction targets for developed nations through carbon credits and Clean Development Mechanisms. At COP21 in 2015, nations adopted the Paris Agreement, committing to limit global temperature increases well below 2.0°C above pre-industrial levels, pursuing 1.5°C targets through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The IPCC publishes scientific Assessment Reports on global climate risks.
Key Concepts & Examination Highlights
- The Paris Agreement was adopted at COP21 in December 2015, establishing the goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C, and preferably 1.5°C.
- The Kyoto Protocol, adopted in 1997 and entering into force in 2005, set legally binding greenhouse gas reduction targets for Annex I developed countries.
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988 jointly by the WMO and UNEP.