COP - What’s it all about?The international political response to climate change began at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, where the ‘Rio Convention’ included the adoption of the UN Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This convention set out a framework for action aimed at stabilising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to avoid “dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” The UNFCCC which entered into force on 21 March 1994, now has a near-universal membership of 195 parties.
The main objective of the annual Conference of Parties (COP) is to review the Convention’s implementation. The first COP took place in Berlin in 1995 and significant meetings since then have included COP3 where the Kyoto Protocol was adopted, COP11 where the Montreal Action Plan was produced, COP15 in Copenhagen where an agreement to success Kyoto Protocol was unfortunately not realised and COP17 in Durban where the Green Climate Fund was created.
(source: http://www.cop21paris.org/about/cop21 )
Why everybody talks about it
The importance of the COP21 is due to the fact that this conference is expected to reach a new global agreement that will bind all countries of the international community, from the developed countries (such as the United States and the European Union) that are more responsible for the current CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, to emerging and developing countries (such as China and India) that significantly increased their emissions over the last few years. For this reason, in order to reach an effective and far-sighted agreement their commitment is fundamental.
(source: http://www.lifegate.com/people/news/what-is-the-cop21-and-why-it-is-so-important)
Why has nobody thought of getting a global agreement on this before now?
They have: global negotiations on climate change have been carrying on for more than 20 years. The history of climate change goes back much further: in the 19th century, physicists theorised about the role of greenhouse gases, chiefly carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere, and several suggested that the warming effect would increase alongside the levels of these gases in the atmosphere. But this was all theoretical.
Only in the past few decades have scientists begun the measurements necessary to establish a relationship between current carbon levels and temperatures, and the science conducted since then has consistently pointed in one direction: that rising greenhouse gas emissions, arising from our use of fossil fuels and our industries, lead to higher temperatures.
(source: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/02/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-paris-climate-summit-and-un-talks )
If you want to find out more about the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, click here: http://newsroom.unfccc.int/paris/ . News are aviable about the steps that are being taken around the world, you can find out about clean energy, green urban life and how to paricipate.
The main objective of the annual Conference of Parties (COP) is to review the Convention’s implementation. The first COP took place in Berlin in 1995 and significant meetings since then have included COP3 where the Kyoto Protocol was adopted, COP11 where the Montreal Action Plan was produced, COP15 in Copenhagen where an agreement to success Kyoto Protocol was unfortunately not realised and COP17 in Durban where the Green Climate Fund was created.
(source: http://www.cop21paris.org/about/cop21 )
Why everybody talks about it
The importance of the COP21 is due to the fact that this conference is expected to reach a new global agreement that will bind all countries of the international community, from the developed countries (such as the United States and the European Union) that are more responsible for the current CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, to emerging and developing countries (such as China and India) that significantly increased their emissions over the last few years. For this reason, in order to reach an effective and far-sighted agreement their commitment is fundamental.
(source: http://www.lifegate.com/people/news/what-is-the-cop21-and-why-it-is-so-important)
Why has nobody thought of getting a global agreement on this before now?
They have: global negotiations on climate change have been carrying on for more than 20 years. The history of climate change goes back much further: in the 19th century, physicists theorised about the role of greenhouse gases, chiefly carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere, and several suggested that the warming effect would increase alongside the levels of these gases in the atmosphere. But this was all theoretical.
Only in the past few decades have scientists begun the measurements necessary to establish a relationship between current carbon levels and temperatures, and the science conducted since then has consistently pointed in one direction: that rising greenhouse gas emissions, arising from our use of fossil fuels and our industries, lead to higher temperatures.
(source: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/02/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-paris-climate-summit-and-un-talks )
If you want to find out more about the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, click here: http://newsroom.unfccc.int/paris/ . News are aviable about the steps that are being taken around the world, you can find out about clean energy, green urban life and how to paricipate.