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Climate Change Regulation
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (1992) sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change.
The UNFCCC defines “climate change” as “a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.” It recognizes that the climate system is a shared resource whose stability can be affected by industrial and other emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
The Convention enjoys near universal membership, with 192 countries having ratified. Under the Convention, governments:
- gather and share information on greenhouse gas emissions, national policies and best practices; and
- launch national strategies for addressing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to expected impacts, including the provision of financial and technological support to developing countries cooperate in preparing for adaptation to the impacts of climate change.
On October 15, 1992, the United States of America ratified the Convention on Climate Change. The Convention entered into force on March 21, 1994.
The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the "supreme body" of the Convention, that is, its highest decision-making authority. It is an association of all the countries that are Parties to the Convention.
The COP is responsible for keeping international efforts to address climate change on track. It reviews the implementation of the Convention and examines the commitments of Parties in light of the Convention’s objective, new scientific findings, and experience gained in implementing climate change policies. A key task for the COP is to review the national communications and emission inventories submitted by Parties. Based on this information, the COP assesses the effects of the measures taken by Parties and the progress made in achieving the ultimate objective of the Convention.
The COP meets every year, unless the Parties decide otherwise. The COP meets in Bonn, the seat of the secretariat, unless a Party offers to host the session. Just as the COP Presidency rotates among the five recognized UN regions - that is, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, and Western Europe and Others – there is a tendency for the venue of the COP to also shift among these groups.
The Convention established two permanent subsidiary bodies: the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI). These bodies give advice to the COP and each has a specific mandate. They are both open to participation by any Party and governments often send representatives who are experts in the fields of the respective bodies.
As its name suggests, the SBSTA’s task is to provide the COP with advice on scientific, technological and methodological matters. Two key areas of work in this regard are promoting the development and transfer of environmentally-friendly technologies, and conducting technical work to improve the guidelines for preparing national communications and emission inventories.
The SBI gives advice to the COP on all matters concerning the implementation of the Convention. A particularly important task in this respect is to examine the information in the national communications and emission inventories submitted by Parties in order to assess the Convention’s overall effectiveness.
Rule 22.1 of the draft Rules of Procedure of the COP provides for a Bureau, comprised of a President, seven vice-presidents, the chairs of the subsidiary bodies established by Articles 9 and 10 of the Convention, and a rapporteur. Traditionally, the Bureau is responsible for advising the President and taking decisions with regard to the overall management of the intergovernmental process. The Bureau has overall responsibility for questions of process. Bureau members often consult with their regional groups on issues. The Bureau is not a forum for political negotiations.
The Bureau is mainly responsible for questions of process management. It assists the President in the performance of his or her duties by providing advice and by helping with various tasks (e.g., members undertake consultations on behalf of the President). The Bureau is responsible for examining the credentials of Parties, reviewing the list of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), seeking accreditation, and submitting a report thereon to the Conference. The secretariat often seeks advice and guidance from the Bureau on relevant matters.
The adoption of the UNFCCC in 1992 was a major step forward in tackling the problem of global warming. Yet as greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels continued to rise around the world, it became increasingly evident that only a firm and binding commitment by developed countries to reduce emissions could send a signal strong enough to convince businesses, communities and individuals to act on climate change. Member countries of the UNFCCC therefore began negotiations on a Protocol – an international agreement linked to the existing Treaty, but standing on its own.
After two and a half years of intense negotiations, the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted at the third Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 3) in Kyoto, Japan, on December 11, 1997. The Protocol shares the objective and institutions of the Convention. The major distinction between the two, however, is that while the Convention encouraged developed countries to stabilize GHG emissions, the Protocol commits them to do so. The detailed rules for its implementation were adopted at COP7 in Marrakesh in 2001, and are called the “Marrakesh Accords .”
Because it affects virtually all major sectors of the economy, the Kyoto Protocol is considered to be the most far-reaching agreement on environment and sustainable development ever adopted. However, any treaty not only has to be effective in tackling a complicated worldwide problem, it must also be politically acceptable. Most of the world’s countries eventually agreed to the Protocol, but some nations, including the United States, chose not to ratify it. Following ratification by Russia, the Kyoto Protocol entered into force on February 16, 2005.
The Kyoto Protocol requires developed countries to reduce their GHG emissions below levels specified for each of them in the Treaty. These targets must be met within a five-year time frame between 2008 and 2012, and add up to a total cut in GHG emissions of at least 5% against the baseline of 1990. United Nations-based bodies review and enforce these commitments. The Protocol places a heavier burden on developed nations under the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities.” This has two main reasons. Firstly, some believe that those countries can more easily pay the cost of cutting emissions. Secondly, it is argued that developed countries have historically contributed more to the problem by emitting larger amounts of GHGs per person than in developing countries.
In order to give Parties a certain degree of flexibility in meeting their emission reduction targets, the Protocol developed three innovative mechanisms, known as Emissions Trading, Joint Implementation, and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). These so-called ”market-based mechanisms” allow developed Parties to earn and trade emissions credits through projects implemented either in other developed countries or in developing countries, which they can use towards meeting their commitments. These mechanisms help identify lowest-cost opportunities for reducing emissions and attract private sector participation in emission reduction efforts. Developing nations benefit in terms of technology transfer and investment brought about through collaboration with industrialized nations under the CDM.
The emissions trading mechanism as set out in Article 17 of the Kyoto Protocol, provides for Annex I Parties (listed in Annex I to the UNFCCC) to acquire units from other Annex I Parties and use them towards meeting their emissions targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
Under the joint implementation mechanism , defined in Article 6 of the Kyoto Protocol, an Annex I Party may implement an emission-reducing project or a project that enhances removals by sinks in the territory of another Annex I Party and count the resulting emission reduction units (ERUs) towards meeting its own Kyoto target. An Annex I Party may also authorize legal entities to participate in joint implementation projects.
The clean development mechanism (CDM), defined in Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol, provides for Annex I Parties to implement project activities that reduce emissions in non-Annex I Parties, in return for certified emission reductions (CERs). The CERs generated by such project activities can be used by Annex I Parties to help meet their emissions targets under the Kyoto Protocol. Article 12 also stresses that such project activities are to assist the developing country host Parties in achieving sustainable development and in contributing to the ultimate objective of the Convention.
Article 3, paragraph 9 of the Kyoto Protocol provides that The Conference of the Parties acting as the Meeting of the Parties (CMP) shall initiate consideration of future commitments for Annex I Parties at least seven years before the end of the first commitment period. Pursuant to that provision, the CMP at its first session held at Montreal from November 28 – December 10, 2005, established the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP).
The AWG-KP is mandated to report to each CMP on the status of its work. It aims to complete its work and have its results adopted by the Conference of the Parties at the earliest possible time to ensure that there is no gap between the first and second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. The first session of the AWG-KP was held in Bonn from May 17 – 25, 2006. At this session the AWG-KP affirmed that it would proceed expeditiously towards agreement on future commitments for Annex I Parties.
The second session of the AWG-KP was held in Nairobi from November 6 – 14, 2006. The AWG-KP adopted a work programme for the completion of its mandate covering:
- analysis of mitigation potentials and ranges of emission reduction objectives of Annex I Parties;
- analysis of possible means to achieve mitigation objectives; and
- consideration of further commitments by Annex I Parties.
The third session of the AWG was held in Bonn from May 14 – 18, 2007. The round table took place on Monday, May 14, 2007. The round table provided delegates an opportunity to discuss the current status of scientific understanding and relevant experience.
The first part of the fourth session of the AWG-KP was held in Vienna from August 27 – 31,2007. The group completed the first step of the work program agreed at the second session. It adopted conclusions on the analysis of mitigation potentials and identification of ranges of emission reduction objectives of Annex I Parties.
The next UN Climate Change Conference (COP15 ) is scheduled for December 7 – 18, 2009. The goal of this conference, which will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, is to develop a comprehensive climate agreement (the “Copenhagen Accord”), which will take effect in 2012 following the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol. Five rounds of negotiating sessions in preparation for COP15 will take place throughout 2009. The first of these was held in Bonn on March 29 – April 8. The remaining four negotiating sessions are scheduled for June 1-12 in Bonn, August 10 – 14 in Bonn, September 28 – October 9 in Bangkok, and November 2 – 6 (location to be announced). Participants in these meetings include the AWG-KP, the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA), the SBI, and the SBSTA.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference 2007 , hosted by the Government of Indonesia, took place at the Bali International Convention Centre and brought together more than 10,000 participants, including representatives of over 180 countries together with observers from IGOs and NGOs and the media. The two-week period included the sessions of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC and its subsidiary bodies, as well as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. A ministerial segment in the second week concluded the Conference.
At the Bali Conference, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) submitted its Fourth Assessment Report to the COP.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) established the IPCC to provide the decision-makers and others interested in climate change with an objective source of information about climate change. The IPCC does not conduct any research nor does it monitor climate related data or parameters. Its role is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis the latest scientific, technical and socio-economic literature produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of the risk of human-induced climate change, its observed and projected impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation. The IPCC is a scientific intergovernmental body open to all member countries of WMO and UNEP. Hundreds of scientists from around the world contribute to the work of the IPCC as authors, contributors, and reviewers.
The Fourth Assessment Report determined that warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and that delay in reducing emissions significantly constrains opportunities to achieve lower stabilization levels and increases the risk of more severe climate change impacts. In response to the Fourth Assessment Report, the COP adopted the Bali Action Plan . The so-called Bali roadmap charts the course for a new negotiating process to be concluded by 2009 that will ultimately lead to a post-2012 international agreement on climate change.
A recent report questions the IPCC assumptions regarding global climate change that underpin the Bali Action Plan.
In 2001, the IPCC published a report that contained a graphic depicting global temperature change. In this graphic, temperatures are shown to be reasonably stable from A.D. 1000 to 1900. From 1900 to 2000, temperatures rise steeply. This trend has come to be known as the “hockey stick” model, and the IPCC and other environmental advocates have used this to support the theory that human activities since 1900 have been a major source of global warming. According to the IPCC, if this trend continues, drastic climate increases could have serious environmental consequences.
In 2006, Congress requested that an independent analysis be performed to test the reliability of the IPCC’s hockey stick model. Edward J. Wegman of George Mason University chaired the panel of statisticians that researched the model. In the report of their results , they noted that the methods of statistical analysis, as well as the peer review process, used by the IPCC had serious flaws. These flaws could mean that the climate predictions made by the IPCC are inaccurate and overestimated.
The UNEP has initiated and implemented a major program on climate change outreach that directly supported the UNFCCC New Delhi Work Programme on Article 6 (Education, Training and Public Awareness). The objectives of this project are to provide to governments additional tools for promoting climate change awareness at the national level; support efforts by associations and NGOs to provide accurate and accessible messages of IPCC on climate change to their memberships or target audiences; make the youth more aware of the climate change implications and motivated to take relevant climate friendly actions; and raise awareness of the general public on climate change problems with easily understandable graphic materials.
On May 31, 2007, United States President George W. Bush announced the Major Economies Process on Energy Security and Climate Change , a new initiative to develop and contribute to a post-Kyoto framework on energy security and climate change by the end of 2008. This effort contributed to existing national, bilateral, regional and international programs to address the long-term challenge of global climate change and reinforced President Bush's firm commitment to taking action on climate change at home and abroad.
The First Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change was held in Washington, D.C. on September 27 and 28, 2007 and included representatives from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the European Union, the European Commission, and the UN. A Chairman’s Final Report was produced.
The Second Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change was held in Honolulu, Hawaii on January 30-31, 2008 to improve understanding of how to develop a detailed contribution in taking forward the Bali Action Plan under the UNFCCC. The participants welcomed the Bali Action Plan to launch a comprehensive process to enable a full, effective and sustained implementation of the UNFCCC to result in a decision in 2009 for long-term cooperative action. They underscored the importance of rapid progress in implementing the Bali Action Plan and noted that Major Economies Meetings can assist the UNFCCC toward a successful outcome. A Chairman’s Final Report was produced.
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