Overview of the negotiation process
Some 20 years ago, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was agreed and countries began to ratify this important multilateral treaty. The aim was to take international action to reduce human-induced emissions contributing to global warming and to adapt to the climate change impacts which are inevitable. In 1997, countries agreed another legal instrument, the Kyoto Protocol, which introduced legally binding emissions reduction targets for developed countries [1]. It entered into force in 2005.
The international negotiation process on climate change is organised around the sessions of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP). The COP meets every year to review progress and take decisions on the Convention’s implementation. Additional negotiation sessions are scheduled between each COP to develop the draft text that will go forward to the COP for decision. Some of the UNFCCC milestones are outlined below.
Text description of the timeline
[1] Fact sheet: An introduction to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol.