International negotiations on climate change are formally conducted under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). UN negotiations are considered to be the most inclusive and legitimate fora for reaching agreement, with 192 countries participating in these negotiations.
All ‘Parties’ – that is, countries that have ratified the UNFCCC – meet every year at the Conference of the Parties (COP) to negotiate global climate change agreements. The first COP was held in 1995, and the most recent, COP16, was held in Cancun in December 2010.
The next International Climate Change Conference will take place in Bonn in June 2011, and COP17 will be held in Durban, South Africa, 28 November - 9 December 2011.
Copenhagen was the biggest climate negotiation to date, and the resulting Copenhagen Accord marked a significant step forward – over 100 countries accounting for over 80% global emissions have associated with the Accord.
The Kyoto Protocol is the current legal agreement for tackling global climate change. It was agreed in 1997 at COP3. The current commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol is due to expire in 2012.
Parties to the UNFCCC are formally classified as:
- Annex I countries - developed countries and economies in transition
- Annex II countries - a sub-set of the Annex I countries excluding countries whose economies are in transition in 1992
- Developing countries. Developing countries may volunteer to become Annex I countries when they are sufficiently developed, although none have yet done so.
The UK negotiates at the UNFCCC as part of the European Union. The EU bloc of 27 member states agree common negotiating positions ahead of meetings. The country holding the EU Presidency speaks on the EU’s behalf in negotiations. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) participate as observers to the process. These include Environmental NGOs (ENGOs); Business and industry NGOs (BINGOs); Local Government and Municipal Authorities (LGMAs) and Indigenous Peoples Organisations (IPOs).
Outside the formal UNFCCC framework, there are also a number of so-called ‘near negotiations’, such as the G8 and G20, which have been used to help build consensus on key issues and demonstrate concrete action.