An Assignment on Climate Change and World Negotiation

Introduction
Each year, climate change negotiators meet in locations around the globe, to discuss and take
decisions on how best to tackle climate change. The working tools for the negotiations are
negotiating texts, based on written proposals submitted by governments. At the end of a
negotiation, the Chair of meeting will bang his or her gavel to declare that a decision, or a
new treaty, has been adopted.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the supreme decision-making body of the climate
change process. It brings together all the “Parties” to the UNFCCC (the governments that
have formally joined the treaty) to take decisions on how to implement the treaty and
promote climate action. Climate change negotiators meet at least twice a year, in locations
around the globe, to discuss and take decisions on how best to tackle climate change and to
review the progress made so far. Through the end of 2019, the Parties had taken more than
763 formal decisions aimed at implementing the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris
Agreement.

Developed countries are burning more coal, oil, fossil fuels to produce energy and doing
industrial activities which cause climate change. But not only they suffer from these,
developing countries are suffering mostly. So, a better negotiations between developed and
developing countries for reducing negative impacts of climate change is preciously required.

Climate Change and different countries

 Developed countries are countries that have a high quality of life, developed
economy, and developed technological infrastructure. Developing countries are
countries with a less developed industrial base and a comparatively lower HDI
relative to developed countries, whereas underdeveloped countries are countries
having the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development, with the lowest HDI
ratings. Therefore, the main difference between developed developing and
underdeveloped countries is their economic status and quality of life.

Deveolped Countries and Climate Change

Rich countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan and much of western Europe,
account for just 12 percent of the global population today but are responsible for 50 percent
of all the planet-warming greenhouse gases released from fossil fuels and industry over the
past 170 years. Over that time, Earth has heated up by roughly 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees
Fahrenheit), fueling stronger and deadlier heat waves, floods, droughts and wildfires.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), progressive changes
will result in higher overall temperatures and altered water cycle, leading to a rise in sea level
and shifting of climatic zones.

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The Developing Countries and Climate Change

The United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2009
focused extensive attention to the issue of climate change impacts on the developing world.
Currently, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
officially recognizes the potential threat that climate change poses on a global basis. A
significant proportion of this threat falls in the developing world and those countries least
able to adapt to the threats posed. Significant discussions have taken place since the Rio de
Janiero Conference (Earth Summit) in 1992, focusing on the adaptation to and mitigation by
countries to climate change (UNFCCC, 2010). For developing countries, the emphasis is on
identifying the threats posed, adapting to the predicted changes, incorporating the changes
into mid-range and long-term development plans and securing funding for the proposed and
necessary adaptations (UNFCCC, 2009, 2010).

The underdeveloped Countries and Climate Change

The dependence on agro-economy, use of fossil fuels and industrial activities by developing
countries have made huge contributions to increased levels of greenhouse gases (GHG) that
have escalated global warming and sponsored a changing climate Although least developed
countries (LDCs) have barely contributed to climate change, they are on the front lines of the
climate crisis. Over the last 50 years, 69 per cent of worldwide deaths caused by climate-
related disasters occurred in LDCs. They are more vulnerable because of their high
dependence on natural resources, and their limited capacity to cope with climate variability
and extremes.

The International Conference on Climate Change

The International Conferences on Climate Change (ICCC) is a conference series organized
and sponsored by The Heartland Institute which aims to bring together those who "dispute
that the science is settled on the causes, consequences, and policy implications of climate
change."

The first conference took place in 2008 in New York City. Speakers included climatologist
Patrick J. Michaels and physicist S. Fred Singer

The 2nd conference was held in New York City with the theme, "Global Warming".

The 3rd conference was held in Washington, D.C. The 2009 report of the NIPCC, "Climate
Change Reconsidered", was released in conjunction with the conference.

The 4th conference was held in Chicago, Illinois with the theme, "Reconsidering the Science
and Economics."

The 5th conference was held in Sydney, Australia.

The 6th conference was held in Washington, D.C. with the theme, "Restoring the Scientific
Method."

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The 7th conference was held in Chicago, Illinois, in May 2012. The theme was "Real
Science, Real Choices

The 8th conference was held in Munich, Germany, in November/December 2012. It was held
in partnership with the European Institute for Climate and Energy (a German nonprofit
organization of climate change deniers). The event doubled as the Fifth International
Conference on Climate and Energy.

The 9th conference was held in Las Vegas in July 2014.

The 10th conference was held in Washington, D.C. in June 2015.

The 11th conference on was held at Germany in December 2015.

The 12th conference was held in Washington, D.C. in March 2017. Speakers included Lamar
Smith, chair of the United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

The 13th conference was held in Washington, D.C. at the Trump Hotel in July, 2019, with the
theme "Best Science, Winning Energy Policies."

The 14th conference was in Las Vegas in October, 2021, with the theme "The Great Reset:
Climate Realism vs. Climate Socialism". The conference was both in-person and live-
streamed online due to Covid-19

Important Protocols
A protocol contains specific aims or legal obligations agreed upon by the members who
gather in a convention or conference. Usually, when a major provision is to be incorporated
on regulations of the convention, a protocol is called among the countries, who are signatory
of the original convention when it was signed and approved.

The Kyoto Protocol

In order to reduce the growing concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the Earth’s
atmosphere, the UNFCCC put in place the first ever agreement between nations to mandate
country-by-country reduction in GHGs. This historic Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan,
on 11 December 1997 and hence, got the name of Kyoto Protocol.

The Kyoto Protocol officially came into force in 2005, after being formally ratified by the
required number of nations. Participating nations or the signatories have agreed to meet
certain greenhouse gas emission targets, as well as submit to external review and enforcement
of these commitments by the UN-based bodies.

The parties or the signatory countries committed to reduce the GHGs emission, based on the
premise that (a) global warming exists and (b) man-made CO 2 emissions have caused it.
Under Kyoto, industrialized nations pledged to cut their yearly emissions of carbon, as
measured in six greenhouse gases, by varying amounts, averaging 5.2%, by 2012 as
compared to 1990.

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Kyoto Protocol has been necessitated as the UN has set a target of limiting global warming to
2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial levels — a level at which scientists
say the planet may be spared the worst impacts of climate change.

Montreal Protocol

The Montreal Protocol is related to the substance that depletes the ozone layer of the
atmosphere. This International Treaty, is designed to protect the ozone layer, by phasing out
the production of numerous substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion. The
Treaty was opened for signature on 16 September, 1987 and came into force on 1 January,
1989.

It was agreed that if this international agreement is strictly adhered to, the ozone layer would
recover by 2005. At first, the aim was to remove harmful chemicals such as CFCs by 50
percent by 1998. The target was further revised so as to curtail the production of these
chemical at the earliest.

The Montreal Protocol has been ratified by 196 countries. It is the first international treaty to
achieve complete ratification by member countries. In Kigali, Rwanda in 2016, the Parties
(Members) agreed to an international phase down of 85 percent of Hydro flurocarbons
(HFCs).

Conclusions
The reason for the failure of these negotiations can be attributed to a lack of consensus
between developed and developing countries on various issues. Moreover, the irony lies in
the fact that it was developed countries who coined the term like climate emergency and it is
the only who opposes any legally binding climate actions. Till now there is no planet other
than earth, where human civilization can thrive. Therefore, the challenge of climate change
should only be met through global collective action based on equity, driven by a clear
commitment to multilateralism by all nations. In this context, the developing countries need
to persist with the strategy of prioritising sustainable development while using multilateral
for maintaining pressure on the developed countries to take the lead in climate action.

References:
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Jepsen, Henrik; et al. (2021). Negotiating the Paris Agreement: The Insider Stories.
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