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The treaty's objective was to stabilize atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations concentration levels that would prevent dangerous climate change. A UN Secretariat was subsequently established to administer the work of the convention.
The original treaty set no mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions for nations and contained no enforcement provisions. But it did call for updates, called protocols, which would set mandatory limiteslimits.
The primary update is the Kyoto Protocol, negotiated in 1997, the first international agreement to set binding emission reduction targets.
Since Kyoto, the UNFCCC has continued to meet, in an effort to reach further agreement on binding targets in two key areas:
- reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,
- reductions in emissions from land use, specifically reductions in deforestation (conversion of forests for uses such as agriculture, logging, and housing) and increases in
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- afforestation (establishment of forests on land that is not currently a forest or has not been one for a long time).
The 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.
A key feature of the process is the division of the countries of the world into various groupings. For more on these, see UNFCCC country groupings.
Although the UNFCC UNFCCC holds quarterly gatherings, major annual meetings are the centerpiece of the process.
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