18th CONFERENCE OF PARTIES (COP) DOHA

• The 2012 UN Climate Change Conference, COP 18/CMP 8 (the 18th Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC, plus the 8th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol), took place in Doha, Qatar from 26 November to 7 December 2012.
• COP President: Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah

AGENDA:

• To conclude negotiations on the Bali Action Plan — a series of critical decisions needed to combat climate change.
• To conclude the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, the only legally binding treaty to cut global emissions.
• To agree on the programme of work of the new global deal to cut emissions post 2020, which had been agreed at the Durban CoP last year.

 WHAT IS COP?

• Since the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) entered into force in 1994, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC has been meeting annually to assess progress in dealing with climate change.
• The COP is the 'supreme body' of the Convention, its highest decision-making authority. The COP is an association of all the countries that are Parties to the Convention.
• There are now 195 parties to the convention taking part in climate change negotiations.

 WHAT IS CMP?

• The COP serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) meets annually, coinciding with the COP. States that are Parties to the Protocol are represented in the CMP, as well as other States, NGOs and UN agencies, who are allowed to participate as observers.
• The CMP reviews the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol and takes decisions to promote its effective implementation.

 KYOTO PROTOCOL:

• Under the Protocol, 37 States, consisting of highly industrialized countries and countries undergoing the process of transition to a market economy, have legally binding emission limitation and reduction commitments.
• The ultimate objective of both treaties is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system
• The Kyoto Protocol has been ratified by 193 of the UNFCCC Parties.

 CONFERENCE OUTCOMES:

• The Conference produced a package of documents collectively titled The Doha Climate Gateway over objections from Russia and other countries at the session. The documents collectively contained:
• An eight year extension of the Kyoto Protocol until 2020 limited in scope to only 15% of the global carbon dioxide emissions due to the lack of participation of Canada, Japan, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, New Zealand nor the United States and due to the fact that developing countries like China (the world's largest emitter), India and Brazil are not subject to any emissions reductions under the Kyoto Protocol
• Language on loss and damage, formalized for the first time in the conference documents.
• The conference made little progress towards the funding of the Green Climate Fund.

 CONCEPT OF “LOSS & DAMAGE”:

• First articulated at the 2012 conference and in part based on the agreement that was signed at the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun.
• It introduces the principle that countries vulnerable to the effects of climate change may be financially compensated in future by countries that fail to curb their carbon emissions.
• Signatory nations agreed in principle that richer nations could be financially responsible to other nations for their failure to reduce carbon emissions

 GREEN CLIMATE FUND:

•  Founded within the framework of the UNFCCC as a mechanism to transfer money from the developed to the developing world, in order to assist the developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change.
• Its legal basis can be found in the Copenhagen Accord, which was adopted during (COP-15).
• It was then launched at the 2011 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 17) in Durban, South Africa and its governing instrument was adopted. It will be governed by a Board of 24 members and initially supported by an Interim Secretariat. Head office for GCF will be located in Incheon, South Korea.
• Objective: to raise $100 billion a year by 2020