Bottom Line on International Climate Negotiations

The document outlines the roles of the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Bali Action Plan in shaping international climate negotiations. It details the specific issues to be addressed in Copenhagen—including mitigation, adaptation, forests, technology, and finance—and discusses whether the resulting agreement will replace or retain the Kyoto Protocol framework.

• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), adopted at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, establishes that climate change results from human activities and calls on industrialized 'Annex I Parties' to lead climate action due to their historic responsibility and greater capacity.
• The 1997 Kyoto Protocol set binding greenhouse gas emission targets for 37 industrialized nations and the European community, aiming for an average reduction of five percent below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012, though the United States did not ratify it.
• The 2007 Bali Action Plan introduced 'Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions' (NAMAs) for developing countries, which are grounded in local circumstances and supported financially by developed countries, with obligations for both groups to be measured, reported and verified.
• Key negotiation topics for Copenhagen include the under-funded Adaptation Fund, the role of forests (specifically Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, or REDD), and the delivery of financial support for technology deployment and forestry in developing nations.
• Negotiators in Copenhagen face a choice between retaining the Kyoto Protocol as the primary legal instrument for developed countries' accountability or replacing it with a new comprehensive legal instrument that includes obligations for all countries.

APA

World Resources Institute (2009). Bottom Line on International Climate Negotiations. https://www.wri.org/research/bottom-line-international-climate-negotiations

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Bottom Line on International Climate Negotiations. 2009. https://www.wri.org/research/bottom-line-international-climate-negotiations.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Bottom Line on International Climate Negotiations |date=2009 |url=https://www.wri.org/research/bottom-line-international-climate-negotiations |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2009bottom, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Bottom Line on International Climate Negotiations}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2009}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/bottom-line-international-climate-negotiations}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }