This guide seeks to provide a starting point for newcomers to help them take in the ‘big picture’ of the United Nations climate change regime, which is at the forefront of international action to combat climate change. It guides the newcomer through the various issues covered by the regime, such as mitigation, adaptation and finance, in order to gain a better understanding of the global efforts to combat climate change. The guide also tries to explain and demystify the negotiation processes where Parties of the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol come together to consider on-going efforts and take further steps to enhance those efforts.
We hope the guide will enable you to increase knowledge and ownership of climate change issues that are of fundamental importance to us all.
This guide has been made possible by the generous support of the Government of Singapore.
How does this interactive guide work?
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (referred to as the UNFCCC or sometimes simply the Convention) provides the centrepiece for multilateral action to combat climate change and its impacts on humanity and ecosystems. The objective of the UNFCCC is to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”. The UNFCCC sets out a framework and a process for agreeing to specific actions over time—a starting point for further action in the future. It establishes a framework of general principles and institutions, and sets up a process through which governments meet regularly to discuss climate change action.
This interactive guide seeks to provide a starting point that will help new readers take in the ‘big picture’ of the United Nations climate change regime, the UNFCCC negotiating process and the global effort to combat climate change. This interactive guide provides short summaries of many of the key topics of the UNFCCC process, along with visual aids and hyperlinked guides to the extensive climate change information available on the UNFCCC website.
A Guide to the UNFCCC and its Processes
- UNDERSTANDING THE UNFCCC
- THE CONVENTION AND ITS KYOTO PROTOCOL
- MITIGATION
- ADAPTATION
- CLIMATE FINANCE
- TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
- CAPACITY-BUILDING
- INDCs
- TRANSPARENCY
- SCIENCE
- NEGOTIATIONS
- ADP
Global Climate Change
Environment Ethics
Environment Justice