International Climate Change Policy

Background

Intergovernmental dialogue around the development and implementation of effective global climate change policies required to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations began with the formation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The UNFCCC is an international environmental treaty which went into force on March 21, 1994. The treaty is considered to be “legally non-binding” in that it set no policies on mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions and contained no enforcement provisions. Signatories to the UNFCCC are divided into three groups. These include: Annex 1 countries (industrialized countries); Annex 2 countries (developed countries which pay for costs of developing countries); and developing countries.  The Annex 1 countries must agree to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to targets which are below their 1990 levels. Developing countries, on the other hand, are not expected to significantly reduce emissions unless developed countries provide the sufficient amount of funding and technology. ¹

Conference of the Parties

The UNFCCC Conference of the Parties met for the first time in Berlin, Germany in the spring of 1995, with governments expressing concerns regarding the abilities of countries to meet their commitments under the UN Convention. Government representatives continue to meet on an annual basis in Conference of the Parties (COP) meetings. The aim of these meetings is to assess climate change programs and activities. Some notable COP meetings include:

• COP-3: The Kyoto Protocol was adopted at COP-3 in Kyoto, Japan (December 1997). The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement which sets binding emissions targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European Union, with a focus on the reduction of four greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride), and two groups of gases (hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons). ²

Under the Kyoto Protocol, most industrialized countries and East European economies in transition have agreed to legally binding reductions in greenhouse gas reductions of an average of 6 to 8% below 1990 levels between the years of 2008-2012. The United States would be required to reduce its total emissions on an average of 7% below 1990 levels. Japan, by 6% and 10% for Russia. ³

The Kyoto Protocol also includes a number of flexible mechanisms such as Emissions Trading, the Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation to allow developed country economies to meet their greenhouse gas (GHG) emission limitations by purchasing GHG emission reductions credits through financial exchanges or projects that reduce emissions in developing countries.

In practice, this means that developing country economies have no GHG emission restrictions, but have financial incentives to develop GHG emission reduction projects to receive "carbon credits" that can then be sold to developed country buyers. In addition, the flexible mechanisms allow developed countries with efficient, low GHG-emitting industries to purchase carbon credits on the world market instead of reducing greenhouse gas emissions domestically.

By the end of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012, a new international framework should be negotiated and ratified: one which can take the world on an emissions trajectory which avoids dangerous climate change.

• COP-6: The 6th Conference of the Parties took place in the Hague, the Netherlands (November 13-25, 2000). This meeting was characterized by disagreements over the following issues: 1) the United States proposal to allow credit for carbon sinks in forests and agricultural lands, thereby justifying a major proportion of the U.S. emissions reductions; 2) Disagreements over consequences for non-compliance by countries that did not meet their emission reduction targets; 3) Difficulties in resolving how developing countries could obtain financial assistance to deal with the negative effects of climate change and meet their obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Due to these differences, the climate negotiations in the Hague collapsed and it was announced that they would resume the following year in Bonn, Germany.  ⁴

• COP-6 (bis):COP-6 (bis) negotiations took place in Bonn, Germany (July 17-27, 2001). The United States delegation declined to participate in this set of negotiations as president Bush had just rejected the Kyoto Protocol in March 2001. As the other countries negotiated key issues, consensus was reached on issues such as flexible mechanisms, carbon sinks, compliance and financing.

• COP-13: The 13th Conference of the Parties took place in Bali, Indonesia (December 3-15, 2007). The conference proceedings resulted in the Bali Action Plan (“Bali Roadmap”), which charts the course for a two year negotiating process with the aim to come to consensus on an effective post-Kyoto climate treaty. Here, governments agreed that the negotiations should address a shared vision for long-term cooperative action, including a global goal for emissions reductions. ⁵

The Bali Action Plan is centered on four main building blocks—mitigation, adaptation, technology and financing. Other topics for discussion include approaches to enhance the cost-effectiveness of mitigation actions; creating incentives to invest in projects under the scheme of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) in developing countries; and deciding how governments will consider incentives for scaling up the transfer of clean energy technologies. All nations, including the United States, signed onto the Bali Roadmap. ⁶

On the Road to Copenhagen

COP-14, which took place in Poznan, Poland, concluded with mixed results. There was no final decision regarding differences between governments on the long and mid-term goal of emission cuts by industrialized countries. Industrialized countries such as Japan, Canada and Australia drew back from strengthening the mid-term goal of cutting 25-40% emissions over 1990 levels by 2020.⁷

However, progress was made on the Kyoto Protocol’s Adaptation Fund (which has been operationalized and can disburse funds within months) as well as finance, technology, REDD and disaster management. And, significant progress was made in the area of technology with the endorsement of the Global Environment Facility’s “Poznan Strategic Programme on Technology Transfer.” The aim of this program is to scale up the level of investment by levering private investments that developing countries require both for mitigation and adaptation technologies.

At the 15th Conference of the Parties, which will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, countries will meet to decide upon an effective and enduring post-Kyoto climate treaty. Consensus on a binding international climate agreement at the Copenhagen meeting will be essential in order to save the planet from dangerous climate change.  

Footnotes

¹ United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...Climate_Change

^{2 3} The Kyoto Protocol. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change website

  ^{4 5} Conference of the Parties. Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

⁶ "At a Glance: Bali Climate Deal," BBC News, December 15, 2007.

⁷Earth Negotiations Bulletin,A Reporting Service for Environment and Development Negotiations