UNFCCC:- United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change
UNFCCC stands for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is an international environmental treaty adopted on 9th May 1992. It entered into force on 21st March 1994, after being opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro from 3rd to 14th 1992. Its main objective is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climate system due to human actions. The framework doesn’t contain any enforcement mechanism, nor does it set any binding limits on the greenhouse gas emissions of individual countries. Instead, its framework outlines how specific international treaties can be negotiated so as to further work towards achieving the objectives of the UNFCCC. The UNFCCC has 197 parties as of December 2015. The parties have met annually and in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was brought into effect which established legally binding obligations on the developed countries to bring down their greenhouse gas emissions. In 2015, Paris Agreement was adopted which would be the basis for governing the emission reductions from 2020 onwards according to the commitments of countries in Nationally Determined Contributions.