MAJOR INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE ORGANIZATIONS
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is a pivotal international environmental treaty, established in 1992, aimed at addressing the global challenge of climate change. It was signed by 197 countries and represents a collective effort to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at levels that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.
The UNFCCC was a response to mounting scientific evidence that human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, were accelerating climate change. The treaty acknowledges that climate change is a global problem requiring concerted international action, reflecting the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC), which recognizes the varied responsibilities and capacities of countries in addressing climate change.
|
Objective |
Goal |
Approach |
|
Mitigation |
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. |
Promote renewable energy sources, enhance energy efficiency, and reduce emissions from industrial processes. |
|
Adaptation |
Help communities and ecosystems adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change. |
Implement measures such as building sea walls, developing drought-resistant crops, and enhancing disaster risk management. |
|
Technology Transfer and Capacity Building |
Facilitate the transfer of environmentally sound technologies from developed to developing countries. |
Support capacity building initiatives to enable developing countries to effectively participate in global climate efforts. |
|
Financing |
Mobilize financial resources to support climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. |
Secure funding from public and private sources to finance climate initiatives. |
The UNFCCC organizes annual Conferences of the Parties (COP), where member countries negotiate and decide on measures to implement the Convention. These negotiations are crucial for global climate policy and include a diverse range of stakeholders, such as non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and scientific experts.
One of the most notable outcomes of these negotiations is the Paris Agreement, adopted during COP21 in 2015. The Paris Agreement aims to limit global temperature rise this century to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, with efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It also mandates that countries regularly report on their greenhouse gas emissions and their progress in reducing them.