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The Copenhagen meeting is the next in a series of negotiations that have occurred as part of the United Nations Framework convention Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This page provides background information on the Copenhagen talks and the UNFCCC process.
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The UNFCCC is an international treaty negotiated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Earth Summit, which was held in Rio in June 1992. The treaty's objective was to stabilize atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations levels that would prevent dangerous climate change. A UN Secretariat was subsequently established to adminster administer the work of the convention.
The original treaty set no mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual nations and contained no enforcement provisions. But it did call for updates, to be called protocols, which would set mandatory limites. The primary update is the Kyoto Protocol, negotiated in 1997, which was the first international agreement to set binding emission reduction targets.
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- reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,
- reductions in emissions from land use; the objective here is to agree on targets for , specifically reductions in deforestation (the process of converting forests conversion of forests for uses such as agriculture, logging, and housing) and increases in aforestation (the process of establishing a forest establishment of forests on land that is not currently a forest or has not been one for a long time).
The negotiations center around defining targets for two groups of countries: the developed and the developing economies (see below for more detail on these groupings).Targets targets at the heart of the UNFCCC are typically focused on dates in the first half of the 21st century, for example, 2020 or 2030 or 2050.
Although the UNFCC holds quarterly gatherings, major annual meetings are the centerprice of the process. The 2008 meeting was held in Poznan, Poland. The 2009 meeting is scheduled for December in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Country Groupings in the UNFCCC: Annex I (Developed) vs. Non-Annex I (Developing) Countries
The countries active in the UNFCC negotiations UNFCCC negotiations center around defining targets for two groups. Countries are divided into two primary groups. Annex 1 and Non-Annex 1 countries. groups because the UN process envisions that they will pursue different emission reduction paths, with wealthier countries reducing more rapdily.
Annex I (Developed) countries
The first group
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is the Developed Countries, known as the
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. This
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group includes members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) and countries that were formerly part of the Soviet bloc.
The OECD is a group of 30 leading industrial countries which includes all the nations of Europe, as well as Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Turkey, and the United States (Mexico became a member of the OECD only after the establishment of the UNFCCC process and so is not considered an Annex I country).
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The former members of the Soviet bloc are sometimes referred to as countries with economics in transition or the EIT parties.
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The Annex I countries
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In the Climate Collaboratorium, the Annex I parties are referred to as "Developed Countries," while the non-Annex I parties are referred to as "Developing Countries."
Some parties to the negotiations have recently proposed separating the Non-Annex I countries into two groups:
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that are members of the OECD are also included in another category, Annex II parties. In addition to reducing their own emissions, Annex II parties are expected to provide financial resources and to transfer technologies that can assist developing countries in reducing their emissions and adapting to climate change.
Developing (Non Annex I) countries
The second group is the developing countries, known as the Non-Annex I parties.
In the current version of the Climate Collaboratorium, the developing countries are divided into two additional groups.
The first is called "Rapidly Developing Countries" and includes economies that have progressed farther in their economic development and contribute a sizeable share of global emissions
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, such as China, India, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and Indonesia
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.
The second is called "Other Developing Countries" and includes economies
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that have low emissions and are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Members of
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this include the least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS).
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While these two groupings of developing countries are not formally codified in the UNFCCC process, some parties to the negotiations have recently proposed separating the non-Annex I parties along these lines
The Climate Collaboratorium already breaks out the developing countries into these two groups. The former is called "Rapidly Developing Countries" and the latter "Other Developing Countries."
The Annex I countries that are members of the OECD are also included in another category, Annex II parties. In addition to reducing their own emissions, Annex II parties are expected to provide financial resources and to transfer technologies that can assist developing countries in reducing their emissions and adapting to climate change.
Major Economies Process: An Adjunct to the UNFCCC
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The first gathering of this group was held in July 2008 in conjuction with the meeting of the G8. The intention was that these meetings would continue on an ongoing basis. Attending were:
- Members of the Group of 8 or G8, the world's largest economies (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States) plus the European Union,
- 8 other leading economies (Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, and South Africa).
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