The need to cut greenhouse emissions urgently and deeply is the single greatest challenge facing the international community. Without early action, we risk dangerous interference with the global climate system, and increasingly difficult and costly efforts to adapt our economies, infrastructure and society.

The need for international cooperation on climate change has been recognised for more than fifteen years. In 1992, the Earth Summit in Brazil established the basis for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), whose Parties in turn established the Kyoto Protocol.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the basis for international cooperation on climate protection. It established the ultimate objective of international cooperation to "prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system". The convention recognised the reality of climate change, the special responsibility of the developed nations, and the need to adopt the Precautionary Principle in the face of scientific uncertainty.

The UNFCCC is a voluntary convention, and it provided for the Parties to voluntarily enter further legally binding agreements on emissions reductions. This was eventually done with the establishment of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. more

The Kyoto Protocol is a legally binding international plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It set targets for industrialised countries to reduce their pollution, and established an international emissions trading system. The Protocol inlcudes developing countries through a major program, the Clean Development Mechanism, which allows developed countries to invest in clean energy and emissions reduction projects in the developing world, and use the emissions reductions to help meet their domestic targets.

The first commitment period for emissions cuts runs from 2008 to 2012, and targets for post 2012 are being negotiated now. more