Previous Year Question

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted on 9 May 1992.

It was opened for signature at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992.

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development is also known as the Earth Summit or the Rio Earth Summit.

The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994.

Its primary objective is to stabilize greenhouse-gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.

It is a framework treaty that provides a broad institutional and negotiating structure for addressing climate change.

Equity and ‘common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities’ are important principles of the UNFCCC.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the supreme decision-making body of the UNFCCC and generally meets every year.

The UNFCCC Secretariat is located in Bonn, Germany.

The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 and the Paris Agreement of 2015 were developed under the UNFCCC.

The Stockholm Conference of 1972 played an important role in the development of global environmental governance, but the UNFCCC was not drawn there.

The Johannesburg Summit of 2002 focused on the implementation of sustainable development.

The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference of 2009 was held much later than the establishment of the UNFCCC.