International Climate Negotiations
The first formal gathering of all the parties to the UNFCCC since Copenhagen is happening in Bonn from 9-11th April.
The second UNFCCC session of the year will be held from 31st May to 11th June.
About the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1992, with the goal “to protect the climate system for present and future generations.” The full text of the Convention is available on the UNFCCC website: www.unfccc.int
There are 196 parties to the UNFCCC, including the EU Parties to the Convention have agreed to work towards achieving the Convention’s ultimate aim, of stabilising greenhouse gases concentrations in the atmosphere “at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.”
The decision-making body of the UNFCCC is the Conference of Parties (COP), which meets once a year in December. Different COPs are distinguished by number. The Copenhagen talks, for example, are the 15th Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC, so they are known as COP15.
United Nations update (4/3/10)
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer will leave the post from 1st July this year. Suggestions are being made about a possible successor, who is tipped to be from a developing country. Also, there are a few new documents to peruse on the UNFCCC website. This includes a summary of work undertaken at COP15 on the basis of the LCA work here.
The UN will create an independent panel of scientists to review the processes of the IPCC, with details to be released this week (see news coverage here). According to Environmental News Service, a report from the review is to be presented to the IPCC Plenary in South Korea in October.
The UN will reportedly also be beginning preparations for a Conference on Sustainable Development, (aka “Rio+20”) to be held in Rio de Janiero in 2012, marking twenty years since the landmark Earth Summit from which the UNFCCC (and much more besides) was born. Brazil’s President Lula da Silva first proposed the follow-up to the milestone Earth Summit in 2007. The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for the conference in December last year and a preparatory meeting is set down to begin work on 17th-19th May, in New York.
d) UNEP meeting in Indonesia
The eleventh special session of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum in Bali last week skimmed under the radar of the Australian press. The formal outcome of the meeting is the Nusa Dua Declaration. This is the first landmark declaration to be made by UNEP environment ministers in ten years, and indicates the Ministers’ desire for a “comprehensive outcome” at COP16 in Mexico. During the meeting, Yvo de Boer cautioned that we should set our sights on South Africa in 2011, rather than expecting too much from Mexico. The ENB report from the session indicates that temperature targets and warmth of reception of the Copenhagen Accord continue to be disputed. The Nusa Dua Declaration will be reported to the General Assembly in October. See the Jakarta Post coverage of the meeting.
About the Kyoto Protocol
Go to CANA's background page on the Kyoto Protocol (note that some of this information pre-dates Australia's ratification -- dates of authoring are given in most cases.)
About the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
IPCC Reports: All the IPCC Summary for Policy Makers reports (Science, Impacts & Adaptation, and Mitigation) can be downloaded from the IPCC website www.ipcc.ch
What are other countries doing?
Lots of countries around the world are taking action to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Up to date information about global greenhouse gas emissions can be accessed through the World Resources Institute's Climate Analysis Indicator Tool (CAIT) -- CAIT can help you understand which sectors create emissions in which countries.
If you want to find out the latest on the emissions reduction commitments and proposed actions since the Copenhagen climate talks, see our page on the Copenhagen Accord.
Useful resources on the UNFCCC negotiations
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Oxfam Australia’s Suffering the Science on the human impact of climate change is available here
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Oxfam Australia’s Hang Together or Separately? on global effort sharing is available here
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A Copenhagen Climate Treaty, by international NGOs available here
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World Resource Institute’s analysis of comparability of effort in developed country pledges for emissions cuts
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World Resources Institute on why finance matters at Copenhagen
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The Climate Institute’s Low Carbon Competitiveness report
