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The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Enjoying near universal membership, including the UK, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1994 with the aim of stabilising human-related greenhouse gas emissions at a level that will prevent dangerous climate change. To this aim, the UNFCCC provides:
- precise and regularly updated inventories of greenhouse gas emissions;
- takes climate change into account in matters such as agriculture, industry, energy, natural resources, and coastal activities;
- agrees to develop national programmes to slow climate change.
The UNFCCC believes that stabilisation of greenhouse gas emissions ‘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.’ The first addition to the treaty was The Kyoto Protocol, in 1997.
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The Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol strengthens the Convention’s objective by setting legally binding targets and timetables for cutting the greenhouse gas emissions of industrialized countries. The total reduction represents at least a 5% decrease from 1990 levels in the commitment period 2008 – 2012 and requires the European Community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8% in the same period.
The targets cover emissions of the six main greenhouse gases:
Carbon dioxide (CO2); Methane (CH4); Nitrous oxide (N2O); Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs); Perfluorocarbons (PFCs); and Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)
To achieve their targets, industrialised countries (or “Annex 1” countries) must put in place domestic policies and measures. The Protocol provides an indicative list of policies and measures that might help mitigate climate change and promote sustainable development.
Carbon dioxide emissions per capita per country
The Protocol also introduces three innovative but controversial ‘flexibility mechanisms’, which are intended to lower the overall costs of achieving emissions targets:
Emissions trading. Under the Protocol, countries may buy and sell greenhouse-gas emissions ‘units’ and ‘credits’.
Clean development mechanism. This is a system for financing emission-reduction or emission-avoidance projects in developing nations.
Joint implementation. Industrialised countries are granted ‘emissions reduction units’ for financing projects in other developed countries – a system intended to increase efficiency and reduce emissions from the ‘transition economies’ of central and eastern Europe.
You can find out more about the Kyoto Protocol here >>>
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European Commission
The European Climate Change Programme (ECCP) is the European Commission's (EC) main instrument for developing European Union climate policy. The second phase (ECCP II) was launched on 24 October 2005. It consists of several working groups:
Launched 1 January 2005, the Emissions Trading Scheme is a cornerstone of EU climate change policy, as it actually requires member states to set CO2 annual emission limits for power plants and energy-intensive industries. Unused emission quotas can be traded, and emitters that exceed their quota must buy more or risk penalties.
The European Commission (EC) has also set out proposals and options for keeping climate change to manageable levels in its communication Limiting Global Climate Change to 2° Celsius: The way ahead for 2020 and beyond. This paper contributes to international discussions on a future global agreement to combat climate change post 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol's emissions targets expire.
Find out more about EC climate change initiatives here >>>
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