What you need to know about this year’s UN Climate Summit in Brazil.
Roughly 60,000 delegates from nearly all countries in the world are gathering in the Brazilian city of Belém for the 30th UN Conference of the Parties (COP30). Here is a breakdown of the key terms and topics from the next two weeks – from Article 6 and NDCs to the New Collective Quantified Goal.
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is a multilateral treaty aiming to prevent “dangerous” human interference with the climate system. It was established in 1992, building upon the release in 1990 of the first Scientific Assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the world’s most authoritative scientific body on climate change. The report provided a comprehensive evaluation of the scientific understanding of climate change at that time.
While the UNFCCC does not set concrete targets, it provides a framework for future agreements and policies. Its primary objective is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that prevents dangerous interference with the climate systems. Such levels, it says, “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.”
A fundamental principle of the UNFCCC is the recognition of “common but differentiated responsibility”. The principle acknowledges that, while all countries share responsibility in addressing climate change, industrialized countries are historically major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and therefore bear greater burden in combating this global issue.
The convention also pushes for the provision of financial and technological support to developing countries for action on climate change.
What Is COP?
Central to the UNFCCC is the annual Conferences of Parties (COP), the decision-making body of the convention. Its purpose is reviewing and advancing the implementation of the Convention. Countries who have joined the UNFCCC (197 states and the European Union) meet to measure progress and negotiate multilateral responses to climate change.
COPs brings together not only the government but also the private sector and thousands of representatives from the civil society, including non-governmental organizations, as well as green and polluting industries to tackle the climate crisis. They have created global milestones for the climate movement, setting standards and advancing action.
More on this topic: Navigating COP: A Deep Dive into the UN Climate Conference Process
