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These pages provide an overview of the international climate change framework within which New Zealand and other countries operate:
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) [external link] sets the international framework for addressing climate change. Its ultimate objective is to achieve:
The UNFCCC was signed in June 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro by more than 185 developed and developing countries. It entered into force in March 1994 and now has 192 Parties signed up to it.
New Zealand ratified the UNFCCC in September 1993. We have a range of commitments under Article 4 of the UNFCCC [external link] . Some of these commitments are common to all UNFCCC Parties, for example the development of national greenhouse gas inventories, and others are for developed countries only. Among the most important of the commitments for developed countries is the adoption of national policies and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions towards 1990 levels, and the provision of finance and technology to help developing countries undertake climate change actions.
The Kyoto Protocol [external link] is a treaty under the UNFCCC. It commits participating developed countries to individual, legally binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over a first commitment period of 2008 to 2012. Countries can meet their target by reducing emissions domestically and by purchasing carbon credits to offset excess emissions, either through international emissions trading or participation in the Clean Development Mechanism [external link to UNFCCC]
The Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in the mid-1990s after it became clear that without binding targets, the UNFCCC’s objective of preventing dangerous climate change would not be achieved. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan and entered into force in February 2005. To date, 184 countries have become Parties to the Protocol.
New Zealand ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2002. Our Kyoto Protocol target is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels over the 2008-2012 commitment period. For more information on New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions, see the Ministry for the Environment’s website. top of page
Negotiations are underway under the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol on the next phase of international climate change action.
The UNFCCC negotiations [external link] are focused on emissions reductions by developed and developing countries, steps to adapt to climate change, and the technology and financial support needed to help developing countries take action.
The Kyoto Protocol negotiations [external link] are focused on further emission reduction commitments for participating developed countries from 2013 onwards.
Both negotiating processes are due to report to the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, 7-18 December.
For more information on the UN negotiations and the Conference in Copenhagen, please see International climate change meetings. For more information on New Zealand’s involvement in these negotiations, please see New Zealand’s international climate change policy.
The UN’s climate change negotiating process encompasses an annual Climate Change Conference at which decisions are taken on various issues on the international climate change agenda. The conference is normally held in late November or early December. A series of negotiating meetings are held throughout the year, including meetings of the UNFCCC’s two subsidiary bodies, the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI). The negotiating meetings aim to draft decisions relating to the implementation of the Convention and its Kyoto Protocol.
More information on the UNFCCC negotiations process, including meetings during 2009, is available from the UNFCCC meetings page [external link]. More information on the 2009 annual UN Climate Change Conference, this year in Copenhagen, is available from the Danish Government’s official conference website.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) [external link] was established in 1988 as an independent body to provide scientific, technical and socio-economic information to inform climate change policy development, typically in the form of ‘Assessment Reports’. The findings of its first Assessment Report (1990) provided the platform for the negotiation of the UNFCCC.
The IPCC’s fourth, and most recent, Assessment Report (2007) is the largest and most detailed summary of the climate change situation ever undertaken. Preparation for its fifth Assessment Report is now underway. This will be published in 2014.
