Introduction
The current version of the Collaboratorium allows users to create plans that outline emission reduction and land use targets of the kind that will be negotiated at the UN climate talks held in Copenhagen during December 2009.
The Copenhagen meeting is the next in a series of negotiations that have occurred as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This page provides background information on the Copenhagen talks and the UNFCCC process.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
The UNFCCC is an international treaty negotiated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Earth Summit, which was held in Rio in June 1992. The treaty's objective was to stabilize atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations levels that would prevent dangerous climate change. A UN Secretariat was subsequently established to administer the work of the convention.
The original treaty set no mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions for nations and contained no enforcement provisions. But it did call for updates, called protocols, which would set mandatory limites. The primary update is the Kyoto Protocol, negotiated in 1997, the first international agreement to set binding emission reduction targets.
Since Kyoto, the UNFCCC has continued to meet, in an effort to reach further agreement on binding targets in two key areas:
- reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,
- reductions in emissions from land use, specifically reductions in deforestation (conversion of forests for uses such as agriculture, logging, and housing) and increases in aforestation (establishment of forests on land that is not currently a forest or has not been one for a long time).
The targets at the heart of the UNFCCC are typically focused on dates in the first half of the 21st century, for example, 2020 or 2030 or 2050.
Although the UNFCC holds quarterly gatherings, major annual meetings are the centerprice of the process. The 2008 meeting was held in Poznan, Poland. The 2009 meeting is scheduled for December in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Country Groupings in the UNFCCC: Annex I (Developed) vs. Non-Annex I (Developing) Countries
The UNFCCC negotiations center around defining targets for two groups. Countries are divided into two groups because the UN process envisions that they will pursue different emission reduction paths, with wealthier countries reducing more rapdily.
Annex I (Developed) countries
The first group is the Developed Countries, known as the Annex I parties. This group includes members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) and countries that were formerly part of the Soviet bloc.
The OECD is a group of 30 leading industrial countries which includes all the nations of Europe, as well as Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Turkey, and the United States (Mexico became a member of the OECD only after the establishment of the UNFCCC process and so is not considered an Annex I country).
The former members of the Soviet bloc are sometimes referred to as countries with economics in transition or the EIT parties.
The Annex I countries that are members of the OECD are also included in another category, Annex II parties. In addition to reducing their own emissions, Annex II parties are expected to provide financial resources and to transfer technologies that can assist developing countries in reducing their emissions and adapting to climate change.
Developing (Non Annex I) countries
The second group is the developing countries, known as the Non-Annex I parties.
In the current version of the Climate Collaboratorium, the developing countries are divided into two additional groups.
The first is called "Rapidly Developing Countries" and includes economies that have progressed farther in their economic development and contribute a sizeable share of global emissions, such as China, India, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and Indonesia.
The second is called "Other Developing Countries" and includes economies that have low emissions and are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Members of this include the least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS).
While these two groupings of developing countries are not formally codified in the UNFCCC process, some parties to the negotiations have recently proposed separating the non-Annex I parties along these lines.
Major Economies Process: An Adjunct to the UNFCCC
In 2008, the United States initiated the Major Economies Process on Energy Security and Climate Change, a meeting that brought 17 of the world's largest economies together to "reinforce and accelerate global efforts under the UNFCCC."
The first gathering of this group was held in July 2008 in conjuction with the meeting of the G8. The intention was that these meetings would continue on an ongoing basis. Attending were:
- Members of the Group of 8 or G8, the world's largest economies (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States) plus the European Union,
- 8 other leading economies (Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, and South Africa).
Some observers believe that the Major Economies Process will emerge as a key adjunct to the UN process, the forum where the leading emitters work out a framework that can then be presented to the larger international community in the UNFCCC meetings.