GOOD BAD
COP29 TIMELINE
As the UN Climate Change Conference COP29 approaches, a look back at the progress and setbacks of the previous 28 conferences By Nicholas K. Smith, OPEC Fund
BERLIN, GERMANY The parties agreed that prevailing efforts to combat climate change were inadequate. The resulting Berlin Mandate locked the world into a political process for countries to agree on binding targets. 1995
I n retrospect, 1995 was a big year. That’s when the Internet jumpstarted the Information Age, “Toy Story” became the first full-length computer-animated feature, and five major hurricanes pounded more than US$12 billion in damages across the Caribbean. Also that year, Germany’s environment minister, a then little-known Angela Merkel, opened the first Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – later to become (almost) a household name as COP. All these events had something to say about our
world, whether technological, cultural, political or environmental. Yet it is that last one that has become the defining feature – and struggle – of humanity. That meeting in Berlin was the first of the annual COPs, which have since evolved into major international events attracting tens of thousands of people. According to one estimate, more than 97,000 badges were issued to attend COP28 in person when held in Dubai last year. With the world turning its attention to COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, it’s as good a time as any to take a look back at some of the highlights from Berlin 1995 to Baku 2024.
COP1
Photo: UNFCCC
COP3
KYOTO, JAPAN The adoption of the landmark Kyoto Protocol, which established binding targets for developed countries to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. Fearing those reductions would “seriously harm the economy,” the USA did not ratify the treaty. The agreement, however, primarily focused on emission cuts for developed countries, while developing countries were not subject to emission commitments.
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Photo: Aflo Co. Ltd. / Alamy Stock Photo
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