Global climate change accords and conferences at a glance

The Paris Climate Change Conference aims to replace Kyoto Protocol with a new pact

Starting Monday, 196 countries are meeting in Paris and trying to reach a new global agreement for combating climate change.

The Paris Climate Change Conference (COP 21), which aims to replace the Kyoto Protocol with a new pact, will see an army of negotiators from across the world trying to balance their national interests with the need to address climate change.

Here is a snapshot of some of the previous global conferences and agreements related to climate change:

Earth Summit, Rio De Janeiro, 1992

The governments of 172 countries participated in the summit, with 116 heads of state in attendance. The summit saw legally binding documents like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) being opened for signatures. UNFCCC acknowledged that change in the Earth’s climate and its adverse effects were a common concern for humankind. Describing the importance of the Rio summit, UN.org  says: “The Earth Summit influenced all subsequent UN conferences, which have examined the relationship between human rights, population, social development, women and human settlements — and the need for environmentally sustainable development.”

Conference of Parties (COP) 1, Berlin, 1995

The first COP was hosted in Berlin, where the parties found the commitments made under UNFCCC were “inadequate”. Since then, there have been 20 more COPs.

COP 3, Kyoto, 1997

The third iteration of COP saw the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol, by consensus. The Kyoto Protocol includes legally binding emission targets for developed countries for the six major greenhouse gases which were to be reached by 2008-2012. The Protocol came into force on February 16, 2005; currently there are 192 parties to the Protocol. In a 2012 article, The Guardian described the impact of Kyoto as: “Overall, the result is that global emissions have showed no signs of slowing down... In that sense, the Kyoto Protocol has been a failure. But it was unquestionably an important first step in global climate diplomacy.”

COP 15, Copenhagen, 2009

Close to 115 world leaders attended the 15th iteration of the global meet. The Guardian described the conference as a failure and attributed the failure to US President Barack Obama. “Obama went behind the backs of the UN and most of its member states, and assembled a coalition of those willing to strike a deal that outraged the rest of the world. This was then presented to poorer nations without negotiation — either they signed it or they lost the adaptation funds required to help them survive the first few decades of climate breakdown.”

COP 17, Durban, 2011

The 17th iteration of COP saw working beginning on the adoption of a universal climate agreement by 2015 under the ad-hoc working group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action. The then environment minister, Jayanthi Natarajan, spearheaded the efforts to ensure India’s concerns over equity in the fight against climate change were met. According to a Hindustan Times report, Natarajan said: “We have shown more flexibility than virtually any other country. But equity is the centrepiece, it cannot be shifted. This is not about India….” The same report credited Natarajan with ensuring that India’s concerns became part of the Durban package.  

COP 18, Doha, 2012

The 18th iteration of the global climate meet saw governments setting a timetable for adopting a universal climate agreement by 2015, which would come into effect from 2020. Besides, the meet saw the adoption of the ‘Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol’, under which a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2020, was launched.