THE COP JOURNEY
COP17
DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA The Durban Platform for Enhanced Action called for a future legally-binding treaty to address global warming. This future treaty would be defined by 2015 and go into effect by 2020. Crucially, the Durban Platform sought to correct a shortcoming of the Kyoto Protocol by including developing countries in the emission cut obligations.
2012
COP18
DOHA, QATAR Under the Doha Agreement, the CO2-cutting Kyoto Protocol was extended by eight years to 2020. However, given the absence of binding targets for countries like the USA and Canada, as well as heavy emitting developing countries that were outside the scope of the Kyoto Protocol like China and India, the extension had only limited impact.
Photo: UNFCCC
2015 PARIS, FRANCE In perhaps the most consequential conference, delegates drafted the Paris Agreement, which aims to keep the global rise in temperature to no more than 2°C, while encouraging the far-preferable 1.5°C increase above pre-industrial levels. Under the Paris Agreement, countries would stick to their Nationally Determined Contributions to cut greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon celebrated the agreement as “a resounding success.”
COP21
12
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