Frequently asked questions

For questions related to specific terms used in international climate negotiations, please consult the glossary. For all other questions, please click on the respective link below.

If your specific question is not listed, please contact the Local Government Climate Roadmap Team.

What is the UNFCCC?

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international environmental treaty which was produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. The UNFCCC sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change, concretely what can be done to reduce global warming (mitigation) and how to cope with whatever temperature increases are inevitable (adaption). Until now, 192 countries have ratified the convention, making its membership nearly universal.

What is the Kyoto Protocol?

The Kyoto Protocol treaty is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It was negotiated in December 1997 at the city of Kyoto, Japan, and came into force February 16th, 2005. To this day, 184 nations have ratified the Protocol.  The Kyoto Protocol is a legally binding agreement under which 37 industrialized countries and the European Community (the Annex I Parties) commit to reduce their collective greenhouse gases emissions by an average of 5% against 1990 levels over the five-year period from 2008 to 2012. Compared to the emissions levels that would be expected by 2010 without the Protocol, this target represents a 29% cut.

What is a COP?

The signatory states of the UNFCCC meet annually in the Conferences of the Parties (COP) to assess progress in dealing with climate change. The 15th Conferences of the Parties (COP15) will take place on 7-18 December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

What are the impacts of global climate change?

Climate Change has severe impacts worldwide, both on urban centers as on rural areas. Those impacts include:

 

  • Extreme weather conditions that threaten human health and productivity
  • An increase in natural disasters such as flooding, wildfires and cyclones
  • Changes in the in the natural habitat, which facilitate the spread of diseases such as malaria and dengue fever.
  • Changes in local and regional weather patterns which affect agricultural outputs and may result in food shortages
  • Melting ice caps will result in a rise of sea level which will threaten coastal infrastructure, while a thaw will reduce stability of cities that are located on permafrost. This is particularly concerning, regarding the facts that more than half of world’s population live within 60 km of the sea and that three quarters of all large cities are located on a coast.
  • Rising temperatures also result in increased energy use, especially in cities where temperatures are already higher than in the surrounding rural areas due to large expanses of concrete and pavement.
  • The provision of water, sanitation and energy are all affected.

How do cities add to climate change problems?

Firstly, cities are home to 50% of the world population. By 2050, it is predicted that two thirds of humanity will live in cities. Secondly, these urban areas generate about two thirds of all CO2 emissions with a tendency that is increasing.

In urban areas, greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the generation of energy, through transportation, industrial activity and the burning of fossil fuels and biomass in households. The emissions from transport and vehicles are rising at rate of 2,5% each year and contribute not only to CO2 emissions but also to local and regional pollution problems.

Electrical energy for public lighting and electricity consumption by households, industry and commerce are another source of emissions. Industry is responsible for 43% of global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion.

Finally, the reduction of a city’s ability to reabsorb CO2 through sufficient green space is another element of concern, as well as poor waste management systems that releases CFC’s and gases such as methane.

How can cities contribute to combat climate change?

Cities around the world, already carry out today a vast range of activities that concretely contribute to reducing GHG emissions.

The introduction of renewable energy in the city’s corporate and community activities, the use of cleaner production techniques and the establishment of regulations to control industrial emissions, all contribute directly to reduce CO2 and other GHG emissions.

Energy efficient housing and construction that makes use of simple measures such as, solar water heating, adequate insulation, double or tripled glazed windows and improved architectural designs for heating or cooling can dramatically reduce the energy consumption of a city’s housing stock. 

Many cities also undertake efforts to reduce private traffic and to enhance public transport. All these make a measurable difference to CO2 emissions.

Actions to address air pollution, such as measures to reduce emissions from vehicles and to promote non-motorized transport, also reduce CO2.

Many other economic or environmental improvements in cities contribute significantly to the control of CO2 emissions,  such as the public procurement of sustainable goods and services, and the undertaking of biodiversity activities. 

These are the kind of local actions that must be demonstrated to our nations world-wide. In every region of the world, we can find pioneering action from cities. Let’s bundle these now and request more recognition, empowerment and resources to roll this out to many more cities in our countries.

Thus, cities are not only part of the problem but can also be part of the solution.

Why should all cities and local governments be interested in these UN negotiations?

Because cities and urban centers are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change - especially fast growing cities in coastal areas or in developing countries - the threats of climate change today are both a local and a global problem. Thus, they require solutions and action at all governance levels. However, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992 nor the Kyoto Protocol foresee a strong links between national, local and regional levels.  

Recognizing and including local experiences in global solutions and multilateral environmental agreements could help create a better understanding of the capacities and needs of both national and local level. Therefore cities and local governments should feed into and inform global policy making of their experiences when nations engage in a new process of multilateral, climate negotiations.

Cities and local governments have to help ensure that

  • nations agree on ambitious reduction targets and a strategy to tackle climate change
  • but that at the same time the needs of cities and local governments must effectively addressed so that they can entirely fulfil the tasks assigned to them.

Local climate action will be key to global success in combating climate change.