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2015 - The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is adopted by all United Nations Member States, creating 17 Sustainable Development Goals

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2015 - The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is adopted by all United Nations Member States, creating 17 Sustainable Development Goals

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The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests. (SDGs)

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2018 - Swedish Climate Activist Greta Thunberg starts the Fridays for Future Campaign and speaks at COP24

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2018 - Swedish Climate Activist Greta Thunberg starts the Fridays for Future Campaign and speaks at COP24

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Fridays For Future is an international climate movement active in most countries and our website offers information on who we are and what you can do.

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#FridaysForFuture is a youth-led and -organised global climate strike movement that started in August 2018, when [then] 15-year-old Greta Thunberg began a school strike for climate. To begin with, she was alone, but she was soon joined by others…

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Latin American and Caribbean countries created a pioneering tool in the context of environmental protection and human rights that reflects the region’s ambition, priorities and specific features: the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, better known as the Escazú Agreement.

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Escazú Agreement for young people

Gain in-depth understanding of the Escazú Agreement, its importance and all its articles.

This document includes essential information about the Escazú Agreement, its importance, and all its articles in youth-friendly language.

Latin American and Caribbean countries created a pioneering tool in the context of environmental protection and human rights that reflects the region's ambition, priorities and specific features: the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, better known as the Escazú Agreement. In this document you can learn about its articles and importance.

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What You Need to Know about the Escazu Agreement

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On Earth Day, find out why the agreement is so important to children and youth.

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2020 - The warmest year on record (tied with 2016)

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2020 - The warmest year on record (tied with 2016)

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According to data from different sources, including NASA. Despite the pandemic, the first nine months of the year saw record concentrations of major greenhouse gases such as CO₂, methane, and nitrous oxide. The Arctic Sea ice extent was also at record low levels for much of the summer. (Climate Wise)

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2020 Tied for Warmest Year on Record, NASA Analysis Shows

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Earth's global average surface temperature in 2020 tied with 2016 as the warmest year on record, according to an analysis by NASA.

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2020 - Youth from around the world come together for Mock COP26 and publish a climate change declaration

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2020 - Youth from around the world come together for Mock COP26 and publish a climate change declaration

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READ OUR FULL DECLARATION

At the Mock COP26 conference last year, over 330 delegates representing over 140 countries produced this Global Declaration.
Treaty

Read our letter to world leaders

We've written to world leaders following Mock COP26. We need our leaders to create meaningful change and commit to actions, not just words!
Letter to World Leaders

Skip to content

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READ OUR FULL DECLARATION At the Mock COP26 conference last year, over 330 delegates representing over 140 countries produced this Global Declaration. Treaty Read our letter to world leaders We've written to world leaders following Mock COP26. We need our leaders to create meaningful change and commit to actions, not just words!

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2021 – Sixth Assessment Report produced by the IPCC

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2021 – Sixth Assessment Report produced by the IPCC

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It concludes that ‘Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal’. The effects of climate change intensify in the form of extreme weather events, rising temperatures, warming oceans, glacial retreat, and reduced snow cover. We have less than 10 years to divert a complete climate breakdown. (Climate Wise)

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The IPCC is now in its sixth assessment cycle, in which the IPCC is producing the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) with contributions by its three Working Groups and a Synthesis Report, three Special Reports, and a refinement to its latest Methodology Report.

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Coal, railroads, and land clearing speed up greenhouse gas emission, while better agriculture and sanitation speed up population growth primarily in countries of the Global North. (AIP)

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What was the Industrial Revolution’s Environmental Impact?

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What was the industrial revolution, how did it impact the environment, and why has it influenced the industrial impact that continues in the present day?

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1856 - Eunice Newton Foote discovers the cause of global warming

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1856 - Eunice Newton Foote discovers the cause of global warming

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Why History Forgot the Woman Who Discovered the Cause of Global Warming

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Eunice Foote discovered the cause of global warming, but history forgot her. That can't happen to women working on climate science today.

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1972 – First UN environment conference in Stockholm, Sweden

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1972 – First UN environment conference in Stockholm, Sweden

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This is where the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was formed. However, the focus was on issues such as chemical pollution, atomic bomb testing, and whaling, rather than climate change. (Climate Wise)

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December 2022 - You are accessing an archived version of our website. This website is no longer maintained or updated. The Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform has been migrated here: https://sdgs.un.org/

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UN Conference on the Human Environment .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform

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December 2022 - You are accessing an archived version of our website. This website is no longer maintained or updated. The Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform has been migrated here: https://sdgs.un.org/

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1988 - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) formed

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1988 - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) formed

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1988 – The IPCC was formed under the UNEP to collate and assess evidence on climate change.

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The establishment of the IPCC was endorsed by UN General Assembly in 1988. Its initial task, as outlined in UN General Assembly Resolution 43/53 of 6 December 1988, was to prepare a comprehensive review and recommendations with respect to the state of knowledge of the science of climate change; the social and economic impact of climate change, and potential response strategies and elements for inclusion in a possible future international convention on climate. Since 1988, the IPCC has had five assessment cycles and delivered five Assessment Reports, the most comprehensive scientific reports about climate change produced worldwide. It has also produced a range of Methodology Reports, Special Reports and Technical Papers, in response to requests for information on specific scientific and technical matters from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), governments and international organizations.

Engage

There are many ways to engage with the IPCC

Since the creation of the IPCC, each Assessment Report has fed directly into international climate policymaking.

In 1990, the First IPCC Assessment Report (FAR) underlined the importance of climate change as a challenge with global consequences and requiring international cooperation. It played a decisive role in the creation of the UNFCCC, the key international treaty to reduce global warming and cope with the consequences of climate change. The Second Assessment Report (SAR) (1995) provided important material for governments to draw from in the run-up to adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The Third Assessment Report (TAR) (2001) focused attention on the impacts of climate change and the need for adaptation. The Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) (2007) laid the ground work for a post-Kyoto agreement, focusing on limiting warming to 2°C. The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) was finalized between 2013 and 2014. It provided the scientific input into the Paris Agreement. The IPCC is currently in its Sixth Assessment cycle where it will prepare three Special Reports, a Methodology Report and the Sixth Assessment Report. The first of these Special Reports, Global Warming of 1.5°C (SR15), was requested by world governments under the Paris Agreement. In May 2019, the IPCC finalised the 2019 Refinement - an update to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. The Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL) was in August 2019 and the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) in September 2019. The Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) was finalized in March 2023 in time for the first global stocktake at the end of 2023.

In 2007, the IPCC and U.S. Vice-President Al Gore were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change". The full statement about the 2007 Nobel Prize Award can be found here.

In October 2022, the IPCC and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) were declared co-laureates of the 2022 Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity.

The Jury of the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity led by Dr. Angela Merkel, selected the IPCC and IPBES out of 116 nominations from 41 countries, in recognition of "...the role of science on the front line of tackling climate change and the loss of biodiversity."

In March 2010 U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and IPCC Chair Rajendra Pachauri asked the InterAcademy Council (IAC) to conduct an independent review of IPCC procedures. The IAC issued a report and recommendations in August 2010. The IPCC considered these at its subsequent sessions, and made a number of revisions to its procedures as a result. Details of the IAC report and the changes to the IPCC procedures can be found here

The IPCC celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2018. Several member governments held conferences or events to mark the occasion. Communications material about the IPCC to support the efforts of stakeholders organizing events to mark the 30th anniversary of the IPCC can be found here.

Materials from previous anniversary

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The establishment of the IPCC was endorsed by UN General Assembly in 1988. Its initial task, as outlined in UN General Assembly Resolution 43/53 of 6 December 1988, was to prepare a comprehensive review and recommendations with respect to the state of knowledge of the science of climate change; the…

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1990 - First Assessment Report produced by IPCC

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1990 - First Assessment Report produced by IPCC

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The report concluded that global temperatures have risen by 0.3-0.6 C over the last century, and humanity’s emissions are adding to the atmosphere’s natural complement of greenhouse gases, which would be expected to result in warming. (Climate Wise)

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Climate Change: The IPCC 1990 and 1992 Assessments — IPCC

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Digitized by the Digitization and Microform Unit, UNOG Library, 2010

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1991 - First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit

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1991 - First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit

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On October 24, 1991, nearly 300 Black, Native, Latino, Pacific Islander, Asian American, and other minority activists gathered in Washington, D.C. to discuss, for the first time in history, the environmental injustices their communities were experiencing. During the four-day event, delegates told stories of Black communities forced to relocate due to dangerously high pollution levels, farmworkers forced to live in homes built on abandoned chemical dump sites, Indigenous groups fighting against mining and nuclear testing on their reservations, and Asian immigrants developing respiratory problems after working for years in factories.

There was excitement, remembers sociologist Robert Bullard, an environmental justice advocate who served on the summit's planning committee, but also anxiety. Conversations got heated. "We had to unpack, and throw off that baggage of mistrust that's kept African Americans from knowing that much about Latinos, Latinos from Asian and Pacific Islanders and Indigenous people," said Bullard. "Those first few days were very intense."

"That was the moment that we came together - not knowing much about each other - but we learned during those first few days," he added.

Thirty years later, the 17 principles of environmental justice laid out during the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit are as relevant as ever. The intersection between race and environmental injustices has been recognized by the federal and state governments, and a growing number of people understand certain groups are more vulnerable to the devastating effects of environmental degradation and climate change due to historical injustices. On the 30th anniversary of the summit, we talked to four of its key figures to understand the legacies of the watershed moment, and what challenges still lie ahead for environmental justice.

Robert Bullard: United Nations Environment Program / Donna Chavis: Matika Wilbur / Charles Lee: Courtesy of Charles Lee / Gail Small: Kate Medley

Q. How did this event change the environmental movement in the United States?

A. Robert Bullard: The First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit was groundbreaking in that people of color basically decided we wouldn't wait for white environmental groups to ride in on a white horse and save us. Our communities were being poisoned, but many of the environmental groups did not see our issues as part of their agenda. So we pushed back. A couple of them showed up at our summit, and we said that people of color will no longer take a backseat when it comes to advancing our policies. When we see environmental racism, we will call it what it is, and we will fight to dismantle structural and systemic racism in this country. That was 1991. It has taken almost 30 years for that lens to become the dominant lens. For me that was a power shift. Our EJ lens was a footnote. Today, it's the headline.

Donna Chavis: The event's legacy is not just symbolic, it is concrete. The executive order they used for the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act, which came out of the Clinton administration, grew out of the summit and the organizing work that happened post-summit. If you look at the structure of the [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] now, and trace back to when its focus began to include environmental justice, it was post-1991 summit.
Q. How has the EJ movement changed and evolved since the summit?
A. Charles Lee: The call to action from the summit was to go back to our communities and to organize, and all the people that showed up took that to heart. Particularly the people from community organizations. They went back to all parts of the country and organized over several decades to build power at home, to really deepen the roots in terms of those struggles. In that process, it began to really impact local dynamics, and then regional, and now national over this period of time.

Gail Small: There was steady progress for the environmental justice movement going back 30 years, using administrative and legal methods to get our voices heard. All of that was wiped out when Trump came into office. He eroded all of the administrative protocols for what we called the Administrative Procedure Act - how agencies operate and how they're required to participate in a public notice to those affected. That in and of itself was a wake up call to the environmental justice movement that the progress we've made is fleeting. The momentum is still there. That's important to say. But a lot depends on who gets into political office, who has the power to unilaterally throw out decades of precedent and decades of rulemaking.
Q. How are today's challenges different or similar from the ones you had in 1991?
A. Robert Bullard: The underlying condition that creates environmental health, housing, energy, climate, and food and water insecurity challenges in communities of color, disproportionately, is racism. Systemic racism is still a major challenge, a barrier that we have yet to dismantle. And it was the same challenge in 1991. Our communities are still getting poisoned, and our institutions and organizations are still not getting the funding they need. The fact that racism is so ingrained in American DNA, that means that when we come up with solutions, they need to include a whole-system approach.

Donna Chavis: They're not different challenges, I just think they've been magnified. For me, you can't have anti-racism without anti-environmental racism. You can't have racial justice without environmental justice. And yet, so often, I find in the environmental justice arena, fear and timidity, sometimes, of being too vocal, because you don't want to seem like you're trying to overshadow other issues. We're all in the same boat when it comes to dealing with unjust systems.
Q. What gives you hope after 30 years of working on EJ issues?
A. Robert Bullard: In 1991, when we say we are fighting environmental racism, they would run from us, it was almost like we were carrying a match and gasoline. But today, there are some folks and organizations, institutions or politicians standing with us trying to really cut out this cancer that's holding back our nation.

Charles Lee: Environmental justice issues were originally not heard at all, even at the time of the summit. It wasn't until events like Hurricane Katrina that raised this issue in the mainstream American consciousness. And then certainly Flint, Michigan, made environmental injustice real to people. Now, it's totally different - it's expanding in terms of getting attention in the federal and state government. That creates all kinds of new opportunities to leverage resources. The idea that 40 percent of the benefits over a set of federal programs should go to disadvantaged, overburdened, or environmental justice communities - that's a huge sea change in terms of how we do our work.

We have the opportunity to really make environmental justice part of the regulatory process. In the past we have not been able to fully analyze disproportionate impacts, particularly cumulative impacts. That's a challenge that has been there, but I think it's the first time people are directly looking at it.

Gail Small: The environmental justice movement, the tribal sovereignty movement, that momentum continues. And it continues with us mentoring and teaching younger generations our knowledge and our experiences. What gives me a lot of hope is that younger people are very open minded. They're very aware of the environmental movement. They're very aware of the climate crisis, and they don't see it as something that is separate from their daily lives.
Interviews have been edited for length and clarity. Mark Armao, Jena Brooker, and Emily Pontecorvo contributed reporting to this story.

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The event that changed the environmental justice movement forever

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On October 24, 1991, nearly 300 Black, Native, Latino, Pacific Islander, Asian American, and other minority activists gathered in Washington, D.C. to discuss, for the first time in history, the environmental injustices their communities were experiencing.

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1992 - United Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange (UNFCCC) adopted at Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero, Brazil

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1992 - United Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange (UNFCCC) adopted at Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero, Brazil

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The UNFCCC laid the foundation for future climate decision making. It brought together the countries that would eventually adopt the Paris Agreement in 2015. (Plan)

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The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994. Today, it has near-universal membership. The 198 countries that have ratified the Convention are called Parties to the Convention. Preventing "dangerous" human interference with the climate system is the ultimate aim of the UNFCCC.

First steps to a safer future: the Convention in summary

The Convention:

Recognized that there was a problem.

This was remarkable for its time. Remember, in 1994, when the UNFCCC took effect, there was less scientific evidence than there is now. The UNFCCC borrowed a very important line from one of the most successful multilateral environmental treaties in history (the Montreal Protocol, in 1987): it bound member states to act in the interests of human safety even in the face of scientific uncertainty.

Related reading: Science

Sets a lofty but specific goal.

The ultimate objective of the Convention is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations "at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human induced) interference with the climate system." It states that "such a level should be achieved within a time-frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened, and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner."

How do we know what is "dangerous anthropogenic interference"? See IPCC's Reports

Puts the onus on developed countries to lead the way.

The idea is that, as they are the source of most past and current greenhouse gas emissions, industrialized countries are expected to do the most to cut emissions on home ground. They are called Annex I countries and belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). They include 12 countries with "economies in transition" from Central and Eastern Europe. Annex I countries were expected by the year 2000 to reduce emissions to 1990 levels. Many of them have taken strong action to do so, and some have already succeeded.

What compelled these countries to act? See The Kyoto Protocol

Directs new funds to climate change activities in developing countries.

Industrialized nations agree under the Convention to support climate change activities in developing countries by providing financial support for action on climate change-- above and beyond any financial assistance they already provide to these countries. A system of grants and loans has been set up through the Convention and is managed by the Global Environment Facility. Industrialized countries also agree to share technology with less-advanced nations.

Related reading: Climate Finance, Climate Technology, Capacity-Building

Keeps tabs on the problem and what's being done about it.

Industrialized countries (Annex I) have to report regularly on their climate change policies and measures, including issues governed by the Kyoto Protocol (for countries which have ratified it).

They must also submit an annual inventory of their greenhouse gas emissions, including data for their base year (1990)and all the years since.

Developing countries (Non-Annex I Parties) report in more general terms on their actions both to address climate change and to adapt to its impacts - but less regularly than Annex I Parties do, and their reporting is contingent on their getting funding for the preparation of the reports, particularly in the case of the Least Developed Countries.

Find out more about the reporting process here.: What is transparency and reporting

Charts the beginnings of a path to strike a delicate balance.

Economic development is particularly vital to the world's poorer countries. Such progress is difficult to achieve even without the complications added by climate change. The Convention takes this into consideration by accepting that the share of greenhouse gas emissions produced by developing nations will grow in the coming years. Nonetheless, in the interests of fulfilling its ultimate goal, it seeks to help such countries limit emissions in ways that will not hinder their economic progress. One such win-win solution was to emerge later, when the Kyoto Protocol to the Convention was conceived.

Related reading: the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol

Kicks off formal consideration of adaptation to climate change.

The Convention acknowledges the vulnerability of all countries to the effects of climate change and calls for special efforts to ease the consequences, especially in developing countries which lack the resources to do so on their own. In the early years of the Convention, adaptation received less attention than mitigation, as Parties wanted more certainty on impacts of and vulnerability to climate change. When IPCC's Third Assessment Report was released, adaptation gained traction, and Parties agreed on a process to address adverse effects and to establish funding arrangements for adaptation. Currently, work on adaptation takes place under different Convention bodies. The Adaptation Committee, which Parties agreed to set up under the Cancun Adaptation Framework as part of the Cancun Agreements, is a major step towards a cohesive, Convention-based approach to adaptation.

Related reading: Adaptation

UNFCCC and the Rio Convention

The UNFCCC is a "Rio Convention", one of two opened for signature at the "Rio Earth Summit" in 1992. Its sister Rio Conventions are the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification. The three are intrinsically linked. It is in this context that the Joint Liaison Group was set up to boost cooperation among the three Conventions, with the ultimate aim of developing synergies in their activities on issues of mutual concern.

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What is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change? | UNFCCC

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The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994. Today, it has near-universal membership. The 198 countries that have ratified the Convention are called Parties to the Convention. Preventing "dangerous" human interference with the climate system is the ultimate aim of the UNFCCC. The Convention: This was remarkable for its time.

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Within the Protocol, developed nations pledge to reduce emissions by an average of 5% by 2008-12, with individual countries having wide variations on targets.

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The Kyoto Protocol was adopted on 11 December 1997. Owing to a complex ratification process, it entered into force on 16 February 2005. Currently, there are 192 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.

In short, the Kyoto Protocol operationalizes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by committing industrialized countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets. The Convention itself only asks those countries to adopt policies and measures on mitigation and to report periodically.

The Kyoto Protocol is based on the principles and provisions of the Convention and follows its annex-based structure. It only binds developed countries, and places a heavier burden on them under the principle of "common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities", because it recognizes that they are largely responsible for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere.

In its Annex B, the Kyoto Protocol sets binding emission reduction targets for 37 industrialized countries and economies in transition and the European Union. Overall, these targets add up to an average 5 per cent emission reduction compared to 1990 levels over the five year period 2008-2012 (the first commitment period).

Doha Amendment

In Doha, Qatar, on 8 December 2012, the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol was adopted for a second commitment period, starting in 2013 and lasting until 2020.

As of 28 October 2020, 147 Parties deposited their instrument of acceptance, therefore the threshold of 144 instruments of acceptance for entry into force of the Doha Amendment was achieved. The amendment entered into force on 31 December 2020.

The amendment includes:

New commitments for Annex I Parties to the Kyoto Protocol who agreed to take on commitments in a second commitment period from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2020;

A revised list of GHG to be reported on by Parties in the second commitment period; and

Amendments to several articles of the Kyoto Protocol which specifically referenced issues pertaining to the first commitment period and which needed to be updated for the second commitment period.

On 21 December 2012, the amendment was circulated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, acting in his capacity as Depositary, to all Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in accordance with Articles 20 and 21 of the Protocol.

During the first commitment period, 37 industrialized countries and economies in transition and the European Community committed to reduce GHG emissions to an average of five percent against 1990 levels. During the second commitment period, Parties committed to reduce GHG emissions by at least 18 percent below 1990 levels in the eight-year period from 2013 to 2020; however, the composition of Parties in the second commitment period is different from the first.

The Kyoto mechanisms

One important element of the Kyoto Protocol was the establishment of flexible market mechanisms, which are based on the trade of emissions permits. Under the Protocol, countries must meet their targets primarily through national measures. However, the Protocol also offers them an additional means to meet their targets by way of three market-based mechanisms:

These mechanisms ideally encourage GHG abatement to start where it is most cost-effective, for example, in the developing world. It does not matter where emissions are reduced, as long as they are removed from the atmosphere. This has the parallel benefits of stimulating green investment in developing countries and including the private sector in this endeavour to cut and hold steady GHG emissions at a safe level. It also makes leap-frogging-that is, the possibility of skipping the use of older, dirtier technology for newer, cleaner infrastructure and systems, with obvious longer-term benefits-more economical.

Monitoring emission targets

The Kyoto Protocol also established a rigorous monitoring, review and verification system, as well as a compliance system to ensure transparency and hold Parties to account. Under the Protocol, countries' actual emissions have to be monitored and precise records have to be kept of the trades carried out.

Registry systems track and record transactions by Parties under the mechanisms. The UN Climate Change Secretariat, based in Bonn, Germany, keeps an international transaction log to verify that transactions are consistent with the rules of the Protocol.

Reporting is done by Parties by submitting annual emission inventories and national reports under the Protocol at regular intervals.

A compliance system ensures that Parties are meeting their commitments and helps them to meet their commitments if they have problems doing so.

Adaptation
The Kyoto Protocol, like the Convention, is also designed to assist countries in adapting to the adverse effects of climate change. It facilitates the development and deployment of technologies that can help increase resilience to the impacts of climate change.

The Adaptation Fund was established to finance adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. In the first commitment period, the Fund was financed mainly with a share of proceeds from CDM project activities. In Doha, in 2012, it was decided that for the second commitment period, international emissions trading and joint implementation would also provide the Adaptation Fund with a 2 percent share of proceeds.

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The Kyoto Protocol was adopted on 11 December 1997. Owing to a complex ratification process, it entered into force on 16 February 2005. Currently, there are 192 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. In short, the Kyoto Protocol operationalizes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by committing industrialized countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets.

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2007 - Ban Ki-moon convenes largest-ever meeting of global leaders on climate change

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2007 - Ban Ki-moon convenes largest-ever meeting of global leaders on climate change

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"I am convinced that climate change, and what we do about it, will define us, our era, and ultimately the global legacy we leave for future generations," Mr. Ban told the participants - top officials from over 150 nations, including 80 heads of State or Government - at UN Headquarters in New York.

"We hold the future in our hands," he said. "Together, we must ensure that our grandchildren will not have to ask why we failed to do the right thing, and let them suffer the consequences."

He cited the findings of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC) that global warming is directly linked to human activity, calling on the attendees to take "unprecedented action" to meet this challenge.

"We must be guided by the reality that inaction now will prove the costliest action of all in the long term," he said.

Development is seriously impeded by climate change, which threatens to reverse the gains made towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals ( MDGs), eight targets to slash a host of ills including poverty by 2015, the Secretary-General noted.

"But it is not a zero-sum game," he said.

Economic growth and emissions reductions can take place in parallel, he added, and combating climate change opens the door to opportunities for promoting sustainable development; creations of cleaner technologies, industries and jobs; and the integration of risks brought about by climate change into national policies and practices.

Mr. Ban called on industrialized nations to take the lead in halting climate change. Not only do their emissions continue to rise, but their "support for adaptation by poor countries has fallen well short of what is required."

He has also invited Delhi's Mayor Arti Mehra and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to brief the landmark meeting's participants on state and local government initiatives to halt global warming.

"All sectors will need to be engaged if global emissions are to peak in the next 10 to 15 years, and be significantly reduced in the years thereafter, as indicated by the IPCC," he said.

Despite the importance of national action, climate change must be confronted within a global framework, "one that guarantees the highest level of international cooperation," the Secretary-General said.

This framework must include bolstered leadership by industrialized countries on emissions reductions; the provision of incentives for action by developing countries without sacrificing their economic growth or poverty reduction efforts; and increasing support for adaptation in developing countries, especially developed and small island developing States.

He voiced hope that today's event - entitled "The Future in our Hands: Addressing the Leadership Challenge of Climate Change" - will create global momentum for the major summit in Bali, Indonesia, this December.

That meeting seeks to determine future action on mitigation, adaptation, the global carbon market and financing responses to climate change for the period after the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol - the current global framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions - in 2012.

"Our immediate challenge is to transform our common concern into a new consensus on the way forward," he said. "This journey begins in Bali this December. It will succeed or fail based on the strength of the leadership and commitment displayed by the people in this hall."

Following opening remarks by Mr. Ban and other officials, four simultaneous plenary sessions on addressing the challenges of climate change on all fronts will be held on four themes: adaptation, mitigation, technology and financing.

Each session will be chaired by two heads of State, and speakers include world leaders and other delegation heads, as well as representatives of civil society and the private sector.

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Ban Ki-moon convenes largest-ever meeting of global leaders on climate change

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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today opened the largest-ever gathering of world leaders on climate change with a call to forge a coalition to accelerate a global response to an issue which he has identified as one of his top priorities. |

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2013 – Fifth Assessment Report produced by the IPCC

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2013 – Fifth Assessment Report produced by the IPCC

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It states that scientists are 95% certain that humans are the “dominant cause” of global warming since the 1950s. (Climate Wise)

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Methodology Report on Short-lived Climate Forcers

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2015 -  The Paris Agreement was adopted at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris, France

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2015 -  The Paris Agreement was adopted at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris, France

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The Paris Agreement was adopted at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris, France, in 2015. This included the beginning of countries writing their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which are the main way countries communicate their climate change goals to their citizens and the rest of the world. For a more complete timeline of climate decision making events between 1992 and 2015, visit the UNICEF/ YOUNGO Toolkit resource: “The Paris Agreement for Young People” (page 10). (Plan International)

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Highlights

This document includes essential information about the Paris Agreement, its importance, and all its articles in youth-friendly language.

The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015 in Paris, France, changed the course of global climate action. It united nations behind the common cause: undertaking ambitious actions to tackle climate change, adapt to its various effects and ensure adequate support for developing countries. In this document you can learn about its articles and importance.

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Gain in-depth understanding of the Paris Agreement, its importance and all its articles

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2015 - Adoption of the Communities and Indigenous Peoples’ Platform (LCIPP) at COP21

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2015 - Adoption of the Communities and Indigenous Peoples’ Platform (LCIPP) at COP21

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The LCIPP is comprised of 14 members; one representative of a party from each of the five United Nations regional groups; one representative of a Party from a small island developing state; one representative of a least developed country Party and seven representatives from indigenous peoples organizations, one from each of the seven United Nations Indigenous Sociocultural regions: Asia, Africa, Central and South America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe-Russian Federation-Central Asia & Trans Caucasia, North America, The Arctic and the Pacific.

The adoption of the LCIPP would help for respecting, recognizing and promoting indigenous knowledge, skills and cultural practices for climate change resilience that is not only limited to a global dialogue but is also pervasive at the national and local levels, too. (IUCN)

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The Historical Journey of Indigenous Peoples in Climate Change Negotiation

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CEESP News: by Pasang Dolma Sherpa, PhD, Co-Chair of FWG, LCIPP of the UNFCCC. Pasang is also Co-Chair of the CEESP Indigenous Peoples, Customary & Environmental Laws & Human Rights Specialist Group (SPICEH) It has taken almost 20 years for the roles and contributions of indigenous peoples and local…