4 Evolution of the United Nations Climate Regime

Subject(s):

Climate change — Environmental disputes

This chapter outlines the four phases in the development of the UN climate regime. The first was an agenda-setting phase, extending through 1990. The second was a constitutional phase, when the basic framework of the UN climate regime was put in place, beginning in 1991, when the UN General Assembly initiated negotiation of a framework convention on climate change, and continuing through 1994, when the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) entered into force. The third phase was regulatory, focusing on the negotiation, elaboration, and operationalization of the Kyoto Protocol, which required industrialized countries to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and five other gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. Finally, the period since 2005 has focused on what to do after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period ended.