Climate policy timeline
© WWF Italy/Maceroni
© WWF-Germany
- G8 Summit in Hokkaido, Japan, 7-9 July 2008
- UN Climate Conference in Posnan, Poland, 1-12 Dec 2008
April 2008 - UN Climate Talks in Bangkok
The UN Climate Talks in Bangkok – the first meeting after the Bali conference – is about developing an ambitious timetable to complete the complex negotiations on a new climate deal in time for the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.
December 2007 - UN climate conference in Bali, Indonesia
Environment ministers launched formal negotiations with a 2009 end date, but the deal falls short in its ambition. During an emotional showdown in the final hours of the 15-day meeting, the US delegation, under intense public pressure, decided to join in the global talks. The price of US participation, however, was a deal weak on substance.
June 2007 - G8 Summit in Germany
Heads of state and government of the G8+5 countries must push for the launch of formal negotiations for deep cuts in global emissions of heat trapping gases, at the UN climate summit in Indonesia in December this year. Specifically ministers should adopt a 'technology package' and a 'development package'.
November 2006 - UN Climate negotiations in Nairobi, Kenya (COP12/COPMOP 2)
The UN Conference ended with a small step forward to keep the world on track to start formal negotiations on the next round of cuts in CO2 emissions starting in 2007.
Ministers attending the UN climate talks edged the planet towards a safer, low-carbon future. But they did not seize the opportunity to make the further decisions needed for deeper emission cuts beyond 2012. Governments recognized that global emissions need to be reduced by 50 per cent by 2050, but at this pace the negotiations will not get us there.
May 2006 - Negotiations on post-2012 regime start in earnest
Countries agreed to focus the next session of the negotiations, in Nairobi, Kenya, in November 2006, on emissions scenarios to reduce the pollution that causes climate change, and on the various policies and technologies that have worked thus far. In addition, the Long-Term Dialogue on Future Cooperative Action, including all UN Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) Parties, is set to continue its workshops – but the effectiveness of this Dialogue is yet to be proven.
December 2005 COPMOP1 / COP11 - Montreal, Canada
The first Meeting of the Parties of the Kyoto Protocol
At this first meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, and the 11th meeting of the UNFCCC, a clear signal was sent to the world that the Kyoto Protocol will continue and that carbon markets will be at the centre of multi-lateral efforts for many years to come.
October 2005 - Publication of WWF policy documents
- WWF report on types for future CO2 reduction commitments
What commitments can industrialized and developing countries take, and what are their pros and cons? Report by EcoFys, 1 October 2005. - Target 2020 - The EU can freeze climate change
A WWF report shows that the EU can cut one third of its CO2 emissions by 2020. Report by Wuppertal Institute, 24 October 2005.
G8 Summit July 2005 - Edinburgh, Scotland
G8 leaders struggle to get decisions on climate change and on aid for Africa. Due to reluctance from US President George Bush - and despite clear interest from the other participating countries, including the 5 largest developing economies - no conclusive decisions are reached on climate change.
WWF teamed up with Allianz Group to call for more climate action from the G8 countries. A joint report outlines specific steps for actions to better integrate risks from climate change into the insurance, banking, and asset management sectors.
May 2005 – Bonn, Germany
Seminar of government experts on longer-term climate change regime
This was the result of overnight negotiations in Buneos Aires, and the first official opportunity to vent options for a climate change regime beyond 2012.
16 February 2005
The Kyoto Protocol enters into force
WWF calls the entry-into-force of the Kyoto Protocol the ‘First of ten steps’ towards a CO2-neutral energy future.
December 2004 – Buenos Aires, Argentina
UNFCCC 10th Conference of the Parties
COP10 fell between the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by Russia and the Protocol's final entry-into-force. While no large-scale decisions were taken, the United States delegation and its ally Saudi Arabia showed a more aggressive stance against progress and against discussing the future of the climate regime after 2012.
June 2004 – Bonn, Germany
Renewable Energy Conference
The International Conference for Renewable Energies set the stage for renewable energy to be a major part of the world's energy future. According to WWF, the conference was successful in delivering an Action Programme for implementing renewable energy, which includes a number of ambitious commitments. Developing countries in particular are moving forward. Amongst the most ambitious commitments were those from China, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, and Egypt.
December 2003 – Milan, Italy
UNFCCC 9th Conference of the Parties
At COP9, decisions were made on the final building blocks of the Kyoto Protocol, especially the use of forest 'sinks' projects in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). A majority of the 188 parties to the UNFCCC rejected attempts by the United States delegation to propose alternative approaches to the Kyoto Protocol. The Bush administration's calls for focusing climate action solely on more scientific research and investment in new technologies were dismissed as unrealistic and as an excuse for delaying real emission cuts.
More information:
- Faking Action: The Truth Behind US Global Warming Policy (DOC: 230 KB)
- Rising Tide: Growing Momentum on Global Warming in the US (DOC: 111 KB)
The Climate Action Network presented its outline for a viable regime to prevent dangerous climate change. This regime must be built on core principles of equity and fairness and include an appropriate balance of rights and obligations.
October 2002 – New Delhi, India
UNFCCC 8th Conference of the Parties
Although COP8 was more of a technical meeting requiring fewer political decisions than previous COP meetings, it was an important milestone in the negotiating process. Key developments occurred on the CDM, whereby developed countries can invest in projects in developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. WWF's concerns about the poor quality of projects were supported by a number of countries and are likely to be considered by the Executive Board of the CDM.
October - November 2001 – Marakesh, Morocco
COP 7 - The Marrakesh Accords
The Marrakesh conference focused on resolving the relatively few outstanding issues from Bonn and completing the transposition of the Bonn Agreement into formal UN legal text.
This was successfully completed, and agreed by consensus. In principle, agreement in Marrakesh should have removed any final barriers to Kyoto's ratification. This is especially true for Japan, Russia and Canada who were able to secure the elements they stated were crucial for their ratification. Now that the rules are complete, all countries have a clear picture of what is expected under the Protocol on all levels.
July 2001 – Bonn, Germany
COP 6b - The Bonn Agreement
The Bonn Agreement on the Kyoto Protocol was a political landmark in the slow-moving international negotiations, demonstrating that the world was not going to be held back by a recalcitrant Bush Administration.
Ministers from around 180 nations agreed a package deal that included rules and procedures on developing country issues (funding, technology transfer, capacity-building, adaptation to the impacts of climate change), the Kyoto "mechanisms" (emissions trading, joint implementation and the CDM), "sinks" and compliance. As a whole, the agreement created the basic fundamental architecture for countries to ratify and implement the Protocol and negotiate deeper emissions cuts in the future.
A funding package included commitments by the EU, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland to provide the developing world with US$410 million per year from 2005, with a further review in 2008.
Among the main points of the Bonn Agreement:
- It gives preferential treatment to clean renewable energy under the CDM.
- It calls on industrialized countries to "refrain" from promoting nuclear power in developing countries. In effect, governments rejected nuclear power as an acceptable way of curbing carbon pollution.
- Credible rules for emissions trading.
- A compliance regime that includes non-optional, enforceable consequences for countries that miss their targets.
November 2000 – The Hague, the Netherlands
UNFCCC COP 6 - The crisis in The Hague
The first global conference on climate change of the 21st century intended to finalise rules for finally bringing the Kyoto Protocol into operation. Governments agreed on legally-binding emission reduction targets in Kyoto back in 1997. But the rich nations missed a golden opportunity in November 2000 to make a break with their polluting past.
The United States, Japan, Canada and Australia brought November's talks to a halt. They insisted on exploiting loopholes in the Kyoto agreement that would have allowed them to avoid cutting their global warming pollution while still claiming to be meeting their Kyoto targets. This proved too much for the European Union to accept.
What WWF called for at the November 2000 Climate Summit:
- Industrialized nations to make substantial cuts in carbon pollution this decade, taking them beyond their Kyoto targets;
- As a bare minimum, all countries to agree a fair and effective Kyoto climate treaty to come into force by 2002.
