Timeline on international agreements

By Ahaan2375

  • First World Climate Conference

    The 1979 World Climate Conference was the first-ever global conference to discuss climate change. It had become obvious by this point that climate change was a serious problem that needed countries to work together and fix, as it was a problem caused by every country. This was when the problem of increasing carbon dioxide was established.

  • The Kyoto Protocol

    The Kyoto Protocol was signed by approximately 160 nations at the third UNFCCC conference (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). This was the first-ever legally binding commitment by countries to reduce their carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions. The goal was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of 6 gases to 5.2% less than the levels at 1990 by 2012. This treaty did not go into effect until 2005.

  • The Fifth IPCC Report

    The IPCC report is an assessment of the scientific, technical, and socio-economic knowledge that we have on climate change. It tells us about its impact, future risks, and what we can do to reduce the rate of climate change. The Fifth IPCC report was the strongest warning out of all the IPCC reports till that date, and it warned us that global warming was at an all-time high. The main causes that were found were burning fossil fuels and increasing carbon dioxide levels due to various causes.

  • The Paris Agreement

    The Paris Agreement is another legally binding international treaty to reduce climate change. Its goal was to limit global warming to below 2 degrees celsius, with an ideal goal of 1.5 degrees celsius. The long-term goal is to reach the peak of global warming as soon as possible, to make sure that we are able to live in a climate-neutral world by around 2050. 197 countries signed this agreement, the most ever for an agreement regarding climate change.

  • Conference of the Parties 23

    the Conference of the Parties 23 (COP 23) was an important meeting by the UNFCCC. This also served as a meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP). Various topics were discussed and the countries had a call to action to make sure that decisive action was taken soon to reduce the effects of climate change.

  • Conference of the Parties 25

    The Conference of the Parties 25 (COP 25) is the most recent conference regarding climate change held by the UNFCCC. This conference was the longest one in history, as they aimed to finalize the rules of the Paris Agreement, which was going to come into effect in 2020. Another one of the goals was to show the world that the UN was still addressing climate change and that they know that there is still much work to do.