{ "id": "R40001", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R40001", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 425701, "date": "2013-11-08", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T20:52:29.985720", "title": "A U.S.-Centric Chronology of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change", "summary": "The November 2013 negotiations in Warsaw are the most recent in a series aimed at arranging multilateral cooperation to address climate change. The United Nations launched formal international negotiations in 1990 to respond to growing scientific and public concern about human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), principally carbon dioxide. This report chronicles the main milestones and issues in the United Nations process to address climate change.\nThe 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): Governments agreed in 1992 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which continues to provide the principle\u2014but not sole\u2014framework for global cooperation on the issue. The treaty\u2019s objective is to stabilize GHG concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous human-induced interference with the Earth\u2019s climate system. A 2010 political statement interpreted this as a vision of GHG cuts to prevent global average temperature from increasing more than 2\u00b0C (2.6\u00b0F) above pre-industrial levels.\nThe United States, as a Party to the UNFCCC, has qualitative obligations to report national GHG emissions; cooperate on science and technology development; enact programs to abate emissions; and provide agreed new and additional financial resources to assist low-income countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change. When the UNFCCC was drafted, the then-industrialized countries emitted two-thirds of annual GHG emissions (excluding emissions from deforestation). These Annex I countries correspondingly accepted a lead role in abating GHG emissions, though all countries agreed to \u201ccommon but differentiated responsibilities.\u201d\nThe 1997 Kyoto Protocol and its 2012 Doha Amendment: When UNFCCC entered into force in 1995, Parties agreed that enforceable obligations were necessary to prevent \u201cdangerous climate change.\u201d The 1995 Berlin Mandate called for a new protocol by 1997 with \u201cno new commitments for developing countries\u201d Under the resulting 1997 Kyoto Protocol, 37 of the then-highest income countries and the European Union (EU) committed to reduce their GHG emissions on average to 5% below 1990 levels during the \u201cfirst commitment period\u201d of 2008 to 2012. The United States signed but did not become a Party to the Kyoto Protocol. The 2012 Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol established a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol for the period 2013-2020, with GHG abatement pledges from 37 countries plus the EU. Japan, New Zealand, and the Russian Federation declined to participate in the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol. Canada withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.\nThe 2010 Cancun Agreement: In 2010 for the first time under the UNFCCC, a negotiated agreement contained language for GHG pledges by all major emitting Parties. Many Parties, including China, pledged quantitatively to limit their GHG emissions. However, these pledges are not considered \u201clegally binding.\u201d\nCurrently, the Durban Platform Negotiations: The current round of negotiations is the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action. The Durban Platform\u2019s mandate is for a new agreement \u201cwith legal force\u201d that would be \u201capplicable to all Parties\u201d and begin implementation after 2020. In concept, this mandate could eliminate the bifurcation in the UNFCCC between Annex I and non-Annex I Parties, or between countries with and without binding GHG obligations.\nIssues for Congress: Many in Congress are concerned with the merits of a treaty, and with the goals and obligations it might embody. One concern is the compatibility of any international agreement with any U.S. domestic policies and laws, should consensus emerge on whether and how to address climate change. Additional issues include the costs and other impacts of obligations; the parity of actions among countries and effects on trade competitiveness; the adequacy of appropriations, fiscal measures, and programs to achieve any commitments under the agreement; and the desirable form of the agreement and related requirements. A new treaty would require Senate consent to ratify it as well as possible federal legislation to meet any U.S. commitments.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R40001", "sha1": "03298f845fec3a0eb13bc583d250e4a71cf3b285", "filename": "files/20131108_R40001_03298f845fec3a0eb13bc583d250e4a71cf3b285.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R40001", "sha1": "95800fc4a7bb973fa7530cc29b4133918c02ac39", "filename": "files/20131108_R40001_95800fc4a7bb973fa7530cc29b4133918c02ac39.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 278, "name": "China, Taiwan, and Mongolia" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 3605, "name": "United Nations" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 3878, "name": "Climate Change Science, Technology, and Policy" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4412, "name": "International Environmental Law" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 468, "name": "South Asia" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc83888/", "id": "R40001_2011Feb08", "date": "2011-02-08", "retrieved": "2012-04-27T15:49:45", "title": "A U.S.-centric Chronology of the International Climate Change Negotiations", "summary": "The United States is a Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), but not to its subsidiary Kyoto Protocol. Negotiations under way since 2007 have run on two tracks: one under the Kyoto Protocol, to extend commitments of developed parties beyond 2012, and the second track under the UNFCCC, regarding commitments for all Parties. Both tracks convened in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2009 under a deadline to agree on steps to address climate change beyond 2012. As background for congressional deliberations, this document provides a U.S.-centric chronology of international climate change policy from 1979 to 2010. This chronology identifies selected external events and major multilateral meetings that influence both the current legal and institutional arrangements, and the contentious choices about future international cooperation.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20110208_R40001_bf45af6e41c95bd23847be537ba097128d4f2f95.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20110208_R40001_bf45af6e41c95bd23847be537ba097128d4f2f95.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Environmental protection", "name": "Environmental protection" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Climatic changes", "name": "Climatic changes" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Global climate changes", "name": "Global climate changes" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "International affairs", "name": "International affairs" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "International economic cooperation", "name": "International economic cooperation" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "International environmental law", "name": "International environmental law" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Environmental policy", "name": "Environmental policy" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc811844/", "id": "R40001_2010Apr14", "date": "2010-04-14", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "A U.S.-centric Chronology of the International Climate Change Negotiations", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20100414_R40001_806fa94235250beb7c67498d96b0ae5b86a15cfc.pdf" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc462508/", "id": "R40001_2010Mar30", "date": "2010-03-30", "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41", "title": "A U.S.-centric Chronology of the International Climate Change Negotiations", "summary": "This document provides a U.S.-centric chronology of the international policy deliberations to address climate change from 1979-2009. It begins before agreement on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, and proceeds through the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, the Marrakesh Accords of 2001, the Bali Action Plan of 2007, and the Copenhagen conference in 2009.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20100330_R40001_8aad3d061559d7e3cd7c9188c319e3a25162f17c.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20100330_R40001_8aad3d061559d7e3cd7c9188c319e3a25162f17c.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Climatic changes", "name": "Climatic changes" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "International affairs", "name": "International affairs" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Environmental policy", "name": "Environmental policy" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc83887/", "id": "R40001_2010Jan07", "date": "2010-01-07", "retrieved": "2012-04-27T15:49:45", "title": "A U.S.-centric Chronology of the International Climate Change Negotiations", "summary": "The Copenhagen conference in December 2009 achieved only mandates to continue negotiating toward the next Conference of the Parties (COP) to be held in Mexico City in December 2010. As a background to these proceedings, this document provides a U.S.-centric chronology of the international policy deliberations to address climate change from 1979-2009. Negotiations underway since 2007 have run on two tracks, the Kyoto Protocol the Convention under the Bali Action Plan. Many in the U.S. Congress are concerned with the goals and obligations that a treaty or other form of agreement might embody. For U.S. legislators, additional issues include the compatibility of any international agreement with U.S. domestic policies and laws; the adequacy of appropriations, fiscal measures, and programs to achieve any commitments under the agreement; and the desirable form of the agreement and related requirements, with a view toward potential Senate ratification of the agreement and federal legislation to assure that U.S. commitments are met.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20100107_R40001_ae115ff217f5337b51c8903188bcb32cc5309b31.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20100107_R40001_ae115ff217f5337b51c8903188bcb32cc5309b31.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Environmental protection", "name": "Environmental protection" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Climatic changes", "name": "Climatic changes" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Global climate changes", "name": "Global climate changes" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "International affairs", "name": "International affairs" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "International economic cooperation", "name": "International economic cooperation" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "International environmental law", "name": "International environmental law" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Environmental policy", "name": "Environmental policy" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc83886/", "id": "R40001_2008Dec23", "date": "2008-12-23", "retrieved": "2012-04-27T15:49:45", "title": "A U.S.-centric Chronology of the International Climate Change Negotiations", "summary": "This document provides a U.S.-centric chronology of the international policy negotiations to address climate change. It covers the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992, the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, the Marrakesh Accords of 2001, and the Bali Action Plan of 2007 that mandates the current negotiations toward a new agreement by the end of 2009 on commitments for the period beyond 2012. Today's negotiations under the Bali Action Plan focus on four elements: mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions; adaptation to impacts of climate change; financial assistance to low income countries; and technology development and transfer. For U.S. legislators, important issues include the compatibility of any international agreement with U.S. domestic policies and laws; the adequacy of appropriations, fiscal measures and programs to achieve any commitments under the agreement; and the desirable form of the agreement and related requirements for potential Senate ratification and federal implementing legislation.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20081223_R40001_6017c8a14923aa16fc79ceb3229acb1bd70bf84e.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20081223_R40001_6017c8a14923aa16fc79ceb3229acb1bd70bf84e.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Environmental protection", "name": "Environmental protection" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Climatic changes", "name": "Climatic changes" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Global climate changes", "name": "Global climate changes" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "International affairs", "name": "International affairs" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "International economic cooperation", "name": "International economic cooperation" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "International environmental law", "name": "International environmental law" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Environmental policy", "name": "Environmental policy" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Appropriations" ] }