Politics of climate change

The political conflicts, institutions, and decisions involved in responding to climate change and shaping climate policy. It includes disputes over responsibility, costs, authority, and the pace of action.

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United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: The 1992 treaty that established the main international framework for negotiating responses to climate change. Its annual negotiations are the central forum for governments to bargain over climate commitments.
Climate justice: An approach to climate change that emphasizes fairness in responsibility, impacts, participation, and remedies. It frames political disputes around unequal contributions to emissions and unequal exposure to harm.
Greta Thunberg: A Swedish climate activist whose school strike in 2018 helped inspire a global youth movement. Her activism brought youth demands and intergenerational responsibility into public debate.
Kyoto Protocol: A 1997 climate treaty that set binding emissions targets for many industrialized countries. Its differentiated targets and limited participation exposed the difficulties of binding international commitments.
Climate tipping points: Thresholds beyond which parts of the climate system can shift rapidly and persistently. Their uncertain timing challenges political systems built around gradual planning and incremental targets.
Paris Agreement: A 2015 climate treaty in which countries set and periodically strengthen their own emissions-reduction plans. Its nationally determined contributions embody a negotiated model based on country-set pledges.
Common but differentiated responsibilities: A principle assigning all countries climate duties while recognizing differences in responsibility and capacity. It captures a persistent dispute over how obligations should be divided among states.
Al Gore: An American politician and climate advocate who served as vice president of the United States. His public advocacy helped make climate change a prominent political issue in the United States.
European Green Deal: The European Union’s policy program for achieving climate neutrality while transforming its economy. It illustrates how climate goals become a broad package of regional laws and industrial policies.
Loss and damage: Climate harms that cannot be avoided through mitigation or fully addressed through adaptation. Debates over compensation raise unresolved questions about liability and international responsibility.