Brief History of Climate Change Negotiations

Climate change first emerged as a global policy issue in the late 1980s, spurring decades of international negotiations to address rising greenhouse gas emissions and climate change risks.

The first milestone was 1979 – First World Climate Conference which outlined the concerns about climate change impacts from human CO2 emissions. In 1988, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was founded to assess causes, impacts of and solutions to climate change. This was followed by most notable event in climate change history titled – Earth Summit, 1992.

Earth Summit 1992

Earth Summit 1992 or Rio Summit (Vasundhara Sammelan in Hindi) was the first major global summit on environment held June 1992 at Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. Outcome of this summit were five documents viz. Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Forest Principles and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Rio Declaration

The Rio Declaration consisted of some 27 principles focusing on major topics related to human role in protection of the environment. The declaration was comprehensive and was hailed by some as Third Generation Human Rights.

Agenda-21

Agenda 21 was a voluntary action plan and a comprehensive blue print with 40 points for role to be played by local, national and global organizations in every area in which humans directly affect the environment.   For implementation of these points, a Commission on Sustainable Development was established.

Forest Principles

The forest principles came as non-legally binding document that makes several recommendations for conservation and sustainable development forestry.

Convention on Biological Diversity

The CBD came out as a legally binding treaty with three clear objectives viz. Conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); Sustainable use of its components; and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources. It was later followed up by two protocols viz. Cartagena Protocol and Nagoya Protocol.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was signed in 1992 to stabilize greenhouse gases to prevent climate interference. It had no binding targets. The legally binding Kyoto Protocol was later adopted under UNFCCC with emission reduction targets for developed countries. The Paris Agreement replaced Kyoto Protocol in 2015.

UNFCCC categorizes countries into Annex 1 industrialized economies including EU, US, Australia responsible for emissions reductions; Annex 2 subgroup to provide climate finance to developing countries; and Developing countries with no emission targets due to links between emissions and industrialization, unless provided finance by developed countries. This became a contention between developed and developing countries.

Kyoto Protocol

Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997 under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Its main objectives were to legally bind developed countries to greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, cutting emissions by 5% below 1990 levels during 2008-2012. It established market mechanisms like carbon trading to help countries meet targets. Major provisions included:

• binding targets only for developed “Annex I” countries based on “common but differentiated responsibilities”,
• creation of the Clean Development Mechanism allowing industrialized countries to fund emission reductions in developing countries as an alternative to domestic cuts,
• the Adaptation Fund to finance adaptation projects in developing countries.

The treaty had mixed success due to insufficient targets, lack of commitments from major developing emitters, non-ratification by the U.S., and non-compliance by Canada and Australia. This spurred alternative approaches in recent agreements. The protocol came into force in 2005 and was extended to 2020 with the Doha Amendment. It was signed by 192 countries and ratified by all except Canada, U.S. and a few others. The 2015 Paris Agreement has now superseded the Kyoto Protocol under the UNFCCC framework.

Copenhagen Accord, 2009

Copenhagen Accord was drafted during the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit (COP15) after negotiations failed to produce a binding treaty. It is not legally binding.

• Main objectives were to keep global temperature rise below 2°C and provide $100 billion per year in climate finance by 2020. It asked developed countries to submit emission reduction targets and developing countries to submit mitigation actions.
• The Accord recognized the scientific view that the increase in global temperature should be held below 2 degrees, but did not specify an exact goal for emission reductions.
• It established a mechanism for developed countries to provide climate finance to developing countries, aiming to ramp up to $100 billion per year by 2020. But details on the source, governance, and allocation of these funds was unclear.
• Follow-up pledges submitted by countries were insufficient to meet the 2°C objective. UN analysis found the commitments implied up to 3.5°C warming. Significant emissions gap remained.
• The Accord had no binding commitments, targets were self-determined, and there was no mechanism to enforce compliance or track progress towards emission goals. This led to criticism that it lacked ambition and accountability.

The non-binding, voluntary nature of the Copenhagen Accord was seen as inadequate by many countries. But it set the framework for negotiating the legally binding Paris Agreement in 2015.

Paris Agreement, 2015

Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015 under the UNFCCC to replace the Kyoto Protocol after 2020. Its main objective is keeping global temperature rise below 2°C or 1.5°C by having countries peak and reduce emissions through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Other key goals are increasing climate resilience, making finance consistent with low emissions pathways, and providing climate finance to developing countries.

Key provisions:

• Developed countries to take emission reductions but determine reduction targets themselves through NDCs rather than mandatory targets
• Developed countries to provide at least $100 billion per year in climate finance to developing countries from 2020 for mitigation and adaptation
• Increasing focus on adaptation and climate resilience
• Five year reviews to assess progress on emission reductions and climate finance
• Establishes technology and market mechanisms to facilitate clean technology cooperation and carbon trading
• Enhanced transparency framework for reporting on NDCs
• Addresses loss and damage from climate impacts

Issues include:

• Tension between developing and developed countries – expanded principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” dilutes notion of developed countries’ historical responsibility
• Climate finance commitments still unclear
• Questions on developing countries’ capacity for mitigation
• Challenges with review mechanism and enforcing compliance

The agreement entered into force in November 2016 with over 180 country signatories. Key differences from the Kyoto Protocol include lack of binding emission targets and its applicability to both developed and developing countries. Operationalization and achieving its goals will require overcoming issues like climate finance mobilization and equitable effort sharing between nations.