Module VII Climate Change

 Climate Change
 International Efforts
 UNFCCC
 Kyoto Protocol
 Subsequent Developments
 National Efforts
 National Action Plan on Climate Change
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 Negotiating History
 Climate change is observed for a long period of time
 Role of human beings in the change was a subject of
discussion
 IPCC established in 1988 by UNEP and WMO
 To provide the world with a clear scientific view on the
current state of knowledge in climate change and its
potential environmental and socio-economic impacts
 Come out with Four Assessment Reports (1990; 1992;
2001; 2007)
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 The formal process for negotiation of a
treaty was set in motion by UNGA
 In 1988 and 1989, the General Assembly
determined that ‘climate change is a
common concern of mankind’
 Governments and intergovernmental and
non-governmental organisations were urged
to collaborate in a concerted effort to
prepare, as a matter of urgency, a
framework convention on climate change
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 Political process began with the 1990 Ministerial
Declaration of the Second World Climate Conference,
calling for negotiations on an effective framework
convention on climate change containing appropriate
commitments to begin without delay.
 December 1990, the UN General Assembly established a
single intergovernmental negotiating process under the
auspices of the General Assembly, supported by UNEP and
WMO, for the preparation by an Intergovernmental
Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on
Climate Change (INC/FCCC)
 1st Intl Env Agreement to be negotiated virtually by the
whole international committee (143 countries)
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 Adopted during the Rio Conference
 194 parties
 Sands thinks that the terminology Framework
Convention is a misnomer:
 commitments to stabilise greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at a safe level,
over the long term, and to limit emissions of
greenhouse gases by developed countries in
accordance with soft targets and timetables;
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 a financial mechanism and a commitment by
certain developed country parties to provide
financial resources for meeting certain
incremental costs and adaptation measures;
 two subsidiary bodies to the conference of
the parties;
 a number of important guiding ‘Principles’;
and
 potentially innovative implementation and
dispute settlement mechanisms.
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 Preamble
 Acknowledges that change in the Earth’s climate and its
adverse effects are a common concern of humankind
 Notes that the largest share of historical and current global
emissions of greenhouse gases has originated in developed
countries, that per capita emissions in developing countries are
still relatively low and that the share of global emissions
originating in developing countries will grow to meet their
social and development needs
 Recalls that States have, in accordance with the Charter of the
United Nations and the principles of international law, the
sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their
own environmental and developmental policies, and the
responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction
or control do not cause damage to the environment of other
States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction
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 Preamble
 Recognises that various actions to address climate
change can be justified economically in their own
right and can also help in solving other
environmental problems
 The need for developed countries to take immediate
action in a flexible manner on the basis of clear
priorities, as a first step towards comprehensive
response strategies at the global, national and,
where agreed, regional levels recognised
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 Objectives
 The ultimate objective of this Convention and any related legal
instruments that the Conference of the Parties may adopt is to
achieve, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the
Convention, stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in
the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous
anthropogenic interference with the climate system. Such a level
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.
 Art. 2
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 Principles
 The Parties should protect the climate system for the benefit
of present and future generations of humankind, on the basis
of equity and in accordance with their common but
differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.
Accordingly, the developed country Parties should take the
lead in combating climate change and the adverse effects
thereof. (Equity)
 The specific needs and special circumstances of developing
country Parties, especially those that are particularly
vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, and of
those Parties, especially developing country Parties, that
would have to bear a disproportionate or abnormal burden
under the Convention, should be given full consideration.
(Special needs of Developing Countries)
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 Principles
 The Parties should take precautionary measures to anticipate,
prevent or minimize the causes of climate change and mitigate
its adverse effects. Where there are threats of serious or
irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not
be used as a reason for postponing such measures, taking into
account that policies and measures to deal with climate change
should be cost-effective so as to ensure global benefits at the
lowest possible cost. To achieve this, such policies and
measures should take into account different socio-economic
contexts, be comprehensive, cover all relevant sources, sinks
and reservoirs of greenhouse gases and adaptation, and
comprise all economic sectors. Efforts to address climate
change may be carried out cooperatively by interested Parties.
(Precautionary Approach)
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 Principles
 The Parties have a right to, and should, promote sustainable
development. Policies and measures to protect the climate system
against human-induced change should be appropriate for the specific
conditions of each Party and should be integrated with national
development programmes, taking into account that economic
development is essential for adopting measures to address climate
change. (Sustainable Development)
 The Parties should cooperate to promote a supportive and open
international economic system that would lead to sustainable
economic growth and development in all Parties, particularly
developing country Parties, thus enabling them better to address the
problems of climate change. Measures taken to combat climate
change, including unilateral ones, should not constitute a means of
arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on
international trade. (Cooperation)
 Art.3
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 Commitments
 Application of the principle of common but
differentiated responsibility
 Different responsibilities on the basis of
differentiation made in the convention
 Parties have been classified into different
categories
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 Annex I:
 Parties include the industrialized countries that were members of the OECD (Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development) in 1992, plus countries with economies in
transition (the EIT Parties), including the Russian Federation, the Baltic States, and several
Central and Eastern European States
 Annex II Countries
 Parties consist of the OECD members of Annex I, but not the EIT Parties. They are required
to provide financial resources to enable developing countries to undertake emissions
reduction activities under the Convention and to help them adapt to adverse effects of
climate change. In addition, they have to "take all practicable steps" to promote the
development and transfer of environmentally friendly technologies to EIT Parties and
developing countries
 Non Annex
 Parties are mostly developing countries. Certain groups of developing countries are
recognized by the Convention as being especially vulnerable to the adverse impacts of
climate change, including countries with low-lying coastal areas and those prone to
desertification and drought. Others (such as countries that rely heavily on income from
fossil fuel production and commerce) feel more vulnerable to the potential economic
impacts of climate change response measures.
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 General Commitments
 All Parties, taking into account their common but
differentiated responsibilities and their specific
national and regional development priorities,
objectives and circumstances, to take the following
measures:
 Develop, periodically update, publish and make available
to the Conference of the Parties national inventories of
anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks
of all greenhouse gases
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 General Commitments
 Formulate, implement, publish and regularly update
national and, where appropriate, regional
programmes containing measures to mitigate climate
change by addressing anthropogenic emissions by
sources and removals by sinks of all greenhouse
gases and measures to facilitate adequate adaptation
to climate change
 To promote, and co-operate in the diffusion of,
technologies, practices and processes that control,
reduce or prevent anthropogenic emissions of
greenhouse gases
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 Specific Commitments: sources and sinks
 “Source” means any process or activity which releases
a greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a
greenhouse gas into the atmosphere
 “Sink” means any process, activity or mechanism which
removes a greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of
a greenhouse gas from the atmosphere
 “Reservoir” means a component or components of the
climate system where a greenhouse gas or a precursor
of a greenhouse gas is stored
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 Specific Commitments: sources and sinks
 Commitment on Annex I countries
 Shall adopt national policies and take
corresponding measures on the mitigation of
climate change, by limiting its anthropogenic
emissions of greenhouse gases and protecting
and enhancing its greenhouse gas sinks and
reservoirs. (Does not speak about stabilization)
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 Specific Commitments: sources and sinks
 These policies and measures will demonstrate that developed
countries are taking the lead in modifying longer-term trends in
anthropogenic emissions consistent with the objective of the
Convention, recognizing that the return by the end of the present
decade to earlier levels of anthropogenic emissions of carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases would contribute to such
modification, and taking into account the differences in these
Parties’ starting points and approaches, economic structures and
resource bases, the need to maintain strong and sustainable
economic growth, available technologies and other individual
circumstances, as well as the need for equitable and appropriate
contributions by each of these Parties to the global effort
regarding that objective (Absence of any express commitment
to keep emissions not higher than 1990 standard)
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 Specific Commitments: sources and sinks
 To provide information within a period of sic
months on the actions taken; projected
anthropogenic emissions by sources and
removal by sinks for the period upto 2000
with the aim of returning individually or jointly
to their 1990 levels these anthropogenic
emissions of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases
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 Specific Commitments: Financial resources and
technology transfer
 Annex II parties
 New and additional financial resources to meet the
agreed full costs incurred by developing country
Parties in complying with their obligations
 Also provide such financial resources, including for the
transfer of technology, needed by the developing
country Parties to meet the agreed full incremental
costs of implementing measures that are covered by
paragraph 1 of this Article and that are agreed
between a developing country Party and the
international entity or entities
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 Institutional Arrangements
 Conference of Parties
 The supreme body of the Convention
 Entrusted with keeping their implementation of the
Convention under regular review and making decisions to
promote its effective implementation
 Several functions:
 to examine periodically the obligations of the parties;
 to facilitate the co-ordination of measures;
 to promote and guide comparable methodologies for preparing
inventories of greenhouse gas emissions;
 to assess the implementation of the Convention by all parties
and the overall effect of measures; and
 to adopt regular reports on the implementation of the
Convention.
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 Institutional Arrangements
 Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological
Advice
 to provide information on scientific and
technological matters to the conference of the
parties
 Subsidiary Body for Implementation
 to assist the conference of the parties in the
assessment and review of the implementation of
the Convention