UNFCCC

1. Origins, objective and scope

The UNFCCC emerged from growing scientific evidence that greenhouse gas emissions were changing the global climate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme, supplied an important scientific foundation. The Convention was adopted in 1992 and opened for signature at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. Together with the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, it is commonly grouped among the Rio Conventions, although the desertification convention was adopted in 1994.

Article 2 seeks to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that prevents dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. This should occur within a time frame that allows ecosystems to adapt naturally, protects food production and enables sustainable economic development. The Convention itself does not specify the Paris Agreement’s numerical temperature goals.

The UNFCCC distinguishes climate change attributable directly or indirectly to human activity from natural climate variability. Its commitments address greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol. It covers emissions, sinks such as forests, adaptation, research, education, technology and financial cooperation. It is a legally binding framework treaty, but it did not impose Kyoto-style quantified emission reduction targets on all Parties.

2. Principles and differentiated responsibilities

Article 3 states that Parties should protect the climate system for present and future generations on the basis of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, commonly abbreviated CBDR-RC. All countries share responsibility, but their historical contributions, resources and capacities differ. Accordingly, developed countries should take the lead. The Convention also recognises the specific needs of particularly vulnerable developing countries.

The precautionary principle means that lack of full scientific certainty should not justify postponing measures where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage. Measures should be cost-effective and account for different socioeconomic contexts. Other principles include sustainable development and an open international economic system; climate measures should not become arbitrary discrimination or disguised restrictions on international trade.

Annex I broadly comprises industrialised countries and economies in transition. Annex II is a narrower developed-country group with specific obligations to provide financial resources and facilitate technology transfer to developing countries. Non-Annex I Parties are predominantly developing countries, including India and China. These are treaty categories, not rankings that automatically change when a country’s contemporary income changes. Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States receive special consideration because of capacity constraints and vulnerability.

• Common responsibility does not mean identical obligations.
• Annex I and Annex II belong to the Convention; Annex B belongs to the Kyoto Protocol and records quantified commitments.
• The Paris Agreement applies to all Parties while reflecting equity and CBDR-RC in the light of different national circumstances.

3. Institutions and the negotiation process

The COP reviews implementation, adopts decisions and guides the Convention’s institutions. It normally meets annually, although exceptional disruptions can alter the schedule. Two permanent subsidiary bodies support its work: the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), which links scientific and technical knowledge with negotiations, and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI), which examines implementation, reporting and related institutional matters.

The secretariat organises sessions, supports reporting and maintains information systems. It does not independently impose national climate policy. The IPCC is also not a subsidiary body of the UNFCCC: it assesses scientific literature and provides policy-relevant, but not policy-prescriptive, findings. National delegations negotiate the political and legal responses.

The CMP is the meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, while the CMA is the meeting of Parties to the Paris Agreement. COP, CMP and CMA sessions are commonly organised together, but they have distinct legal memberships and mandates. Negotiating coalitions include the Group of 77 and China, the Alliance of Small Island States and BASIC, comprising Brazil, South Africa, India and China. Decisions are generally reached by consensus in practice; consensus should not be confused with a routine majority-voting system.

• COP: Convention governance.
• CMP: Kyoto Protocol governance.
• CMA: Paris Agreement governance.
• SBSTA and SBI support all three treaty processes within their respective mandates.

4. From Kyoto to Paris: commitments, reporting and review

The Kyoto Protocol, adopted in 1997 and effective from 2005, established binding quantified emission commitments for participating developed-country Parties listed in Annex B. Its first commitment period ran from 2008 to 2012. The Doha Amendment established a second period, 2013–2020. Kyoto introduced emissions trading, Joint Implementation and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The CDM enabled eligible emission-reduction projects in developing countries to generate credits usable by developed-country Parties under Kyoto rules.

The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015 and effective from 2016, seeks to hold warming well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. All Parties must prepare, communicate and maintain successive nationally determined contributions (NDCs), normally communicated every five years. Successive NDCs should represent progression and reflect the highest possible ambition. Paris does not assign an internationally negotiated, identical reduction percentage to every country.

The enhanced transparency framework provides for reporting and technical review, with flexibility for developing countries that need it in light of their capacities. The global stocktake assesses collective progress every five years, beginning in 2023; it does not issue individual country compliance verdicts. The first stocktake outcome at COP28 called on Parties to contribute to transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly and equitable manner.

5. Finance, adaptation, loss and damage, and India

Mitigation reduces emissions or enhances sinks, whereas adaptation adjusts ecological, social or economic systems to actual or expected climate impacts. Loss and damage concerns adverse impacts that are not avoided through mitigation and adaptation, including economic losses and non-economic harm. These are related but distinct areas of climate cooperation.

The Global Environment Facility and Green Climate Fund serve as operating entities of the Convention’s financial mechanism. The Least Developed Countries Fund and Special Climate Change Fund are administered by the GEF. The Adaptation Fund originated under Kyoto and also serves the Paris Agreement. COP27 agreed to establish new funding arrangements, including a fund for responding to loss and damage; COP28 operationalised the fund. COP29 agreed on a new finance goal of at least US$300 billion annually by 2035 for developing-country Parties, with developed-country Parties taking the lead.

India stresses equity, historical responsibility, climate justice, finance and technology access. Its updated 2022 NDC commits to reducing the emissions intensity of GDP by 45% from the 2005 level by 2030 and achieving about 50% cumulative installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, with specified international support. Installed capacity is not the same as electricity generation. India’s announced net-zero target is 2070; it is not a deadline imposed uniformly by the Convention.

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