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45 Years of Climate Conferences  

From first World Climate Conference in 1979 to COP29 in 2024, the journey of Climate Conferences has been a source of hope. While the conferences have been successful in bringing entire humanity together annually on a regular basis for a common cause of limiting global warming and dealing with the challenges associated with climate change, its success so far in limiting emissions, climate finance and mitigation has lot to desire. In the current scenario, meeting target of limiting warming to 1.5-degree by the end of the century as stipulated in Paris Agreement seems less likely given some reluctance by many developing economies and the fossil fuel producing parties. Climate finance was the central focus of recently concluded COP29 in Baku. It could raise the funding three-fold from $100 billion per year to $300 billion per year by 2035, but this is much less than the estimated financial requirement to meet climate challenges. It was agreed in Baku session to “secure efforts of all actors to work together to scale up finance to developing countries, from public and private sources to the amount of $1.3 trillion per year by 2035”, however climate finance remains a sticky point between North and South. Success of emission reduction and climate change mitigation would depend much on whether trillion-dollar fund becomes available to support to Non-Annex I Parties (i.e., developing countries).  

United Nations Climate Change Conference is an annual event. This year’s Climate Change Conference viz. the 29th session of Conference of Parties (COP) of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held from 11 November 2024 to 24 November 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan.  

The First World Climate Conference (WCC) was held in February 1979 in Geneva under the aegis of World Meteorological Organization (WMO). It was a scientific gathering of experts who recognised that global climate has changed over the years and explored its implication for humankind. It appealed to the Nations in its Declaration to improve climate knowledge and prevent any manmade adverse changes in climate. Among other things, the first WCC led to setting up of an experts’ panel on climate change.  

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up in November 1988 by World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) for assessing the science related to climate change. It was asked to assess the state of existing knowledge about the climate system and climate change; the environmental, economic, and social impacts of climate change; and the possible response strategies. In its first assessment report released in November 1990, IPCC noted that greenhouse gases have substantially increased in the atmosphere due to human activities hence the second World Climate Conference and the call for a global treaty on climate change.  

The second World Climate Conference (WCC) was held in October-November 1990 in Geneva. The experts highlighted the risk of climate change however were disappointed by the absence of high level of commitment in the Ministerial Declaration. Nevertheless, it made progress with the proposed global treaty.  

On 11 December 1990, the UN General Assembly established the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) for a Framework Convention on Climate Change and the negotiations began. In May 1992, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted at the UN Headquarters. In June 1992, the UNFCCC was open for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio. On 21 March 1994, the UNFCCC came into force, as an international treaty to curb greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. This is based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibility and respective capability (CBDR-RC) i.e., individual countries have different capabilities and differing responsibilities and differing commitments in addressing climate change.  

UNFCCC is a foundational treaty that provides a basis for negotiations and agreements based on national circumstances. 197 countries have signed and ratified this treaty; each are known as ‘Party’ to the framework convention. The countries are divided into three groups based on differing commitments – Annex I Parties (the industrialized OECD countries plus Economies in transition in Europe), Annex II Parties (the OECD countries of Annex I), and Non-Annex I Parties (developing countries). Annex II Parties provide financial resources and support to Non-Annex I Parties (i.e., developing countries) to undertake emissions reduction activities.  

The countries (or the Parties to the UNFCCC) meet every year at the Conference of Parties (COP) to negotiate multilateral responses to climate change. The “Conferences of Parties (COP)” held every year are also popularly called “United Nations Climate Change Conferences”.  

The first Conference of the Parties (COP 1) was held in Berlin in April 1995 where it was recognised that the commitments of the Parties in the Convention were ‘inadequate’ for meeting objectives, hence an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions was adopted during COP3 in Kyoto on 11 December 1997. Popularly called Kyoto Protocol, this was world’s first greenhouse gas emissions reduction treaty aimed at prevention of dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. This obliged developed countries to reduce emissions. Its first commitment ended in 2012. A second commitment period was agreed during COP18 in 2012 in Doha that extended the agreement to 2020.  

Paris Agreement is perhaps the most comprehensive resolve to date by the world community 195 for combating climate change towards a low-carbon, resilient and sustainable future. It was adopted on 12 December 2015 during COP 21 session in the French capital. This charted a comprehensive course much beyond reduction in greenhouse gas emission covering climate change mitigation, adaptation, and climate finance.  

Table: Paris Agreement 

1. Temperature goals:   
Hold the increase in the global average temperature to below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels (Article 2)   
2. Pledges of Parties:   
Respond to climate change as “nationally determined contributions” (Article 3)    Reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible for achieving temperature goals (Article 4)    Engage in cooperative approaches using internationally transferred mitigation outcomes towards nationally determined contributions (Article 6)  
3. Adaptation and sustainable development:   
Enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change, towards sustainable development (Article 7)    Recognize the importance of averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage due to adverse effects of climate change, and the role of sustainable development in reducing adverse risks (Article 8)  
4. Mobilization of climate finance by developed countries:   
Provide financial resources to assist developing countries with respect to both mitigation and adaptation (Article 9)  
5. Education and awareness:   
Enhance climate change education, training, public awareness, public participation and public access to information (Article 12)    

As of February 2023, 195 countries signatories to Paris Agreement. USA withdrew from the agreement in 2020 but rejoined in 2021.  

Importance of Paris Agreement’s aim to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050 was confirmed as an imperative by the IPCC in October 2018 to stave off more frequent and more severe droughts, floods and storms and other worst impacts of climate change. 

To limit global warming to 1.5°C, greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 and be halved by 2030. An assessment (of collective progress in implementation of climate goals of 2015 Paris Agreement) delivered at COP28 held in Dubai in 2023 revealed that the world is not on track to limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C by the end of this century. The transition is not fast enough to achieve 43% reduction in greenhouse gas emission by 2030 that could limit global warming within the current ambitions. Hence, COP 28 called for complete transition from fossil fuels to net zero emissions by 2050 through tripling renewable energy capacity, doubling energy efficiency improvements by 2030, phasing-down unabated coal power, phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, and through taking other measures that drive the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, thus, ushering in beginning of the end of fossil fuel era.   

COP28 launched a Global Climate Finance Framework for financing a new climate economy while ensuring climate finance is available, affordable, and accessible. COP28 Declaration on a Global Climate Finance Framework should bring Global North and Global South closer building on the momentum created by existing initiatives.   

The two central themes of COP28, viz. reduction in carbon emission and climate finance resonated loudly in recently concluded COP29 as well.  

COP29 was held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 11 November 2024 and was to conclude on 22 November 2024 however the session was extended by about 33 hours to 24 November 2024 to allow extra time for negotiators to help arrive at consensus. No headway could be made about the goal of “complete transition from fossil fuels to net zero emissions by 2050 to limit global warming to 1.5°C by the end of this century” (perhaps due to conflict-of-interest situation, given Azerbaijan is a major producer of crude oil and of natural gas).   

Notwithstanding this, a breakthrough agreement could be reached to triple climate finance to developing countries, from the previous goal of $100 billion per year, to $300 billion per year by 2035. This is three-fold rise but much less than the estimated financial requirement to meet climate challenges. However, there was an agreement to “secure efforts of all actors to work together to scale up finance to developing countries, from public and private sources to the amount of $1.3 trillion per year by 2035”, however climate finance remains a sticky point between North and South. Success of emission reduction and climate change mitigation would depend much on whether trillion-dollar fund becomes available to support to Non-Annex I Parties (i.e., developing countries). 

*** 

References:  

  1. WMO 1979. The Declaration of the World Climate Conference. Available at https://dgvn.de/fileadmin/user_upload/DOKUMENTE/WCC-3/Declaration_WCC1.pdf  
  1. UNFCC. Timeline. Available at https://unfccc.int/timeline/  
  1. UNFCC. What are Parties & non-Party stakeholders? Available at https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/what-are-parties-non-party-stakeholders  
  1. LSE. What is the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)? Available at https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/what-is-the-un-framework-convention-on-climate-change-unfccc/  
  1. UNFCC. Kyoto Protocol – Targets for the first commitment period. Available at  https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-kyoto-protocol/what-is-the-kyoto-protocol/kyoto-protocol-targets-for-the-first-commitment-period
  1. LSE. What is the Paris Agreement? Available at https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/what-is-the-paris-agreement/  
  1. COP29. Breakthrough in Baku delivers $1.3tn “Baku Finance Goal”. Posted 24 November 2024. Available at https://cop29.az/en/media-hub/news/breakthrough-in-baku-delivers-13tn-baku-finance-goal  
  1. UKFCCC. News – COP29 UN Climate Conference Agrees to Triple Finance to Developing Countries, Protecting Lives and Livelihoods. Posted 24 November 2024.Available at https://unfccc.int/news/cop29-un-climate-conference-agrees-to-triple-finance-to-developing-countries-protecting-lives-and  

*** 

Umesh Prasad
Umesh Prasad
Science journalist | Founder editor, Scientific European magazine

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