International Responses to Global Warming & Climate Change
- Global warming and climate change require an international response because it affects the entire globe
- Responses can involve either adaptation or mitigation
- In 1988 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up to assess the 'risks of human-induced climate change
- This was followed by several international agreements
Earth Summit, Rio 1992
- Set out aims to stabilise greenhouse gas levels
Kyoto Protocol 1997
- Delegates from 150 countries agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- It stated that industrialised countries would reduce emissions to below the levels in 1990
- Developing countries including China and India were exempt from the agreement
- The USA did not sign up for the treaty
- Canada withdrew in 2011 stating that without China and USA the treaty would not work
Paris Agreement 2015
- Global agreement to limit global warming to 2oC (preferably 1.5oC) above pre-industrial levels
- Agreement also includes reducing CO2 emissions by at least 60% by 2050
- Signed by 196 countries including the USA and China (the USA withdrew in 2020 and rejoined in 2021)
Conference of the Parties (COP)
- The United Nations (UN) holds an annual (every year) meeting to discuss climate change.
- COP26 was held in Glasgow in 2021
- All nations agreed to take actions to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions