United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

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United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Title (engl.): United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Date: May 9, 1992
Come into effect: March 21, 1994, according to Art. 23
Reference: UN Treaty Collection
Vol II; Cape. 27; 7th
Reference (German): CH: SR 0.814.01
FL: LR-No 0.814.01
Contract type: International
Legal matter: environment
Signing: 165 (Jan. 4, 19), entry into force
DE: March 21, 1994
FL: Sept. 20, 1994 A
: May 29, 1994
CH: March 21, 1994 2017
EU: March 21, 1994
USA: March 21, 1994
Ratification : 197 (Jan. 4, 19)
Status of ratification

The depositary is the Secretary General of the United Nations
Please note the note on the applicable contract version .

UNFCCC

Organization logo
 
 
Seat of the organs Bonn , GermanyGermanyGermany 
founding

May 9, 1992, New York City , United States
United StatesUnited States 

unfccc.int
Members of the UNFCCC
  • member
  • Member (Annex I)
  • Member (Annex I and II)
  • Observer status
    • German special postage stamp 1995

    The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( English United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , UNFCCC ) is an international environmental agreement with the aim of a dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system and to prevent the global warming to slow down and their consequences to mitigate (Article 2) . At the same time, this name also includes the secretariat, which accompanies the implementation of the convention and has its seat in Bonn . The most important obligation of the convention is that all contracting parties have to publish regular reports, so-called greenhouse gas inventories , which must contain facts about current greenhouse gas emissions and trends.

    The Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted in New York City on May 9, 1992 , and was signed by 154 states at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro that same year . It came into force two years later, on March 21, 1994. On August 12, 1996, the Secretariat of the Framework Convention on Climate Change moved to the Carstanjen house in Bonn; since autumn 2013 it has been located there and on the UN campus in Bonn .

    In order to avoid dangerous disruption of the climate system, greenhouse gas concentrations should be stabilized. The increase in concentrations, until they stabilize, should be slow enough that “ecosystems can adapt naturally to climate change, food production is not threatened and economic development can continue in a sustainable manner”.

    The most important principle is climate protection , which is to serve current and future generations. The guideline for climate protection should be the common but different responsibility and the respective capabilities of the member states (→  climate justice ). Accordingly, the developed states should take a leading role. The special needs, circumstances and burdens of developing countries should be "fully taken into account" in the measures.

    The obligations and rights of the contracting countries depend on whether and in which of the appendices to the convention they are listed:

    • Annex I : Annex I countries are essentially the developed countries ( OECD countries ) as well as the former socialist countries in Eastern Europe (" countries in transition to a market economy "). Annex I countries have committed themselves to limiting greenhouse gas emissions and protecting carbon sinks with the aim of limiting climate change.
      • Annex I and II : These states include only the OECD -Staaten of Annex I . The countries in transition to a market economy are not included. Annex II states have committed to special support services for developing countries. They cover the costs of reporting and are intended to promote access in developing countries to environmentally friendly technologies.
    • Non-Annex I : This includes all other states. Above all, these are the countries that were then considered developing countries . Certain groups of particularly vulnerable countries are given special attention in the Convention, for example the least developed countries, small island countries or countries prone to drought.

    The 197 contracting parties to the convention meet annually for conferences, the UN climate conferences (also known as “world climate summits”), at which concrete measures for climate protection are fought for. The most famous conferences took place in 2015 ( COP21, Paris ), 2009 ( COP15, Copenhagen ) and 1997 ( COP 3, Kyoto ).

    The Kyoto conference adopted the Kyoto Protocol , which obliged industrialized countries to set quantitative greenhouse gas reduction targets and introduced international emissions trading as well as the project-based flexibility mechanisms Joint Implementation (JI) and the Mechanism for Environmentally Compatible Development (CDM). The Copenhagen conference was supposed to lead to a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. However, only formal acknowledgment of the Copenhagen Accord , a non-legally binding declaration of intent on climate protection, was achieved. The Paris Conference ended with the resolution of the Paris Agreement , which for the first time obliges all states to define reduction targets, to implement them and to review progress. Every five years, the goals are to be compared with the state of the art and adapted.

    Secretaries General of the Secretariat

    See also

    Web links

    Individual evidence

    1. ^ Status of the ratifications
    2. ↑ Framework Convention on Climate Change, Article 2
    3. ↑ Framework Convention on Climate Change, Article 3, No. 1 and 2.
    4. ↑ Parties & Observers. UNFCCC, accessed January 12, 2018 .
    5. ↑ Framework Convention on Climate Change, Article 4, Paragraph 2.
    6. ↑ Framework Convention on Climate Change, Article 4, Paragraphs 3, 4 and 5.
    7. ↑ Framework Convention on Climate Change, Article 4, Paragraphs 8 and 9, and Article 12, Paragraph 5.
    8. ^ Status of Ratification of the Convention. UNFCCC, accessed March 27, 2020 .