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Climate change hub > Diplomacy, cooperation & negotiations >

Contents below:

· The 3 core UNFCCC agreements

· UNFCCC main website

· Other UNFCCC websites

· UNFCCC constituencies

Also see:

· UNFCCC finance pages @ Climate finance

The 3 core UNFCCC agreements

1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

· Signed in Rio de Janeiro

· Entered into force 1994

· Notable as the first mention within the context of the United Nations of the term Common but

Differentiated Responsibilities, which became a cornerstone concept of international

environmental diplomacy and negotiation.

1997 Kyoto Protocol

· 193 members of the UNFCCC ratified the Kyoto Protocol, with Canada withdrawing in 2020,

leaving 192 ratifying members.

· The Protocol stipulated that higher levels of GHGs were having a negative effect on the global

climate and contributed to global warming, and required for the lowering of GHG levels to what

was deemed as acceptable levels. The varying levels of emissions from country to country was

based on the idea of common but differentiated responsibilities.

2015 Paris Climate Accord

· Adopted by 193 members of the UNFCCC. The Accord is not enforced but is a collective

agreement to follow certain actions.

· The goal of the Accord is to reduce the global effects of climate change through international

cooperation and action. The main way this is expected to be achieved is by taking action to

prevent global temperatures from rising by 2 degrees Celsius.

· While the United States pulled out from the Paris Agreements in 2020, it rejoined the

agreement a year later.

UNFCCC main website

· Key notes on the UNFCCC website:

~ The UNFCCC website is both (1) a nexus of critically important current information and (2) a warehouse

of key archival resources.

~ At the same time, it is enormous, highly complex, idiosyncratically organized, and appears to be updated

& restructured often.

~ It can thus be difficult to navigate, particularly as there does not appear to be a sitemap.

~ To complicate matters, some UNFCCC initiatives are are double-listed both on the main website

and on a modified base URL. For instance, the Race to Zero campaign is listed at both:

· https://unfccc.int/climate-action/race-to-zero-campaign

...and at:

· https://racetozero.unfccc.int/system/race-to-zero

· Main UNFCCC webpages all begin with "http//:unfccc.int/______"

· Several "directories" are only viewable by hover-clicking on the main menu items on the main page.

For instance, this is what one sees when clicking on "Climate action" at the main page:

· It can't be overemphasized that the UNFCCC website is massive; there are thousands of webpages

that begin with unfccc.int (and according to at least one search method, perhaps tens of

thousands).

· Below, a small selection of webpages on the main UNFCCC website are listed, roughly organized

according to the UNFCCC's website structure. Again, keep in mind that the UNFCCC website is often

updated, so the links below may have shifted.

UNFCCC homepage

Process and meetings

Bodies

Governing bodies

COP: Conference of the parties under the 1992 UNFCCC

CMP: Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the

1997 Kyoto Protocol

CMA: Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the

2015 Paris Agreement

Subsidiary bodies

Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA)

Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI)

Parties & non-Party stakeholders

Party groupings (negotiating groups)

Admitted NGOs

Task Force on Displacement

Topics

Adaptation and resilience

Adaptation Committee

National Adaptation Plans

Capacity-building Portal

Calendar

Climate action

Introduction to climate action

Documents and decisions

Documents

Decisions

About us

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

SOS

Subject

Overview

& Summary