United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

The 1992 international treaty that established a framework for cooperation on climate change, aiming to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations and prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.

Conference of the Parties: The supreme decision-making body of an international treaty, made up of its parties. The treaty’s parties meet regularly through this body to review implementation and adopt decisions.
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development: The 1992 United Nations summit in Rio de Janeiro that produced major environmental agreements and declarations. The convention opened for signature at this summit.
United Nations treaty: A legally binding international agreement concluded within the United Nations system. The convention is a treaty whose obligations apply to states that become parties.
Green Climate Fund: A climate finance fund established under the convention to support developing countries’ mitigation and adaptation efforts. It channels financial support through institutions created within the convention’s system.
Climate change mitigation: Human interventions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or enhance their removal from the atmosphere. The convention’s central aim depends on whether parties reduce emissions enough to limit warming.
Nationally Determined Contributions: National climate plans submitted under the Paris Agreement, setting each party’s intended mitigation and adaptation efforts. The Paris Agreement uses these plans to organize national action within the treaty’s framework.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: A United Nations body that assesses scientific knowledge about climate change, its impacts, and response options. Its assessments helped establish the scientific basis for negotiating the convention.
Common but differentiated responsibilities: A principle assigning all states responsibility for shared problems while recognizing differences in capacity and contribution. The convention applies this principle to distinguish responsibilities among countries.
Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage: A mechanism under the climate convention addressing loss and damage associated with climate impacts in vulnerable countries. It brought loss and damage into the convention’s formal institutional agenda.
Climate finance: Funding for activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or help societies adapt to climate impacts. Disputes over who provides finance, how much, and on what terms persist within the convention.

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