UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol: Key Legal Issues
- Devesh Kapoor
- June 21, 2020
Content :
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)is one of the most important organizations of the United nations and helms the fight against global warming. A closer look at the past of the concept of adaptation as applied in the UNFCCC process highlights the novel intention that the treaty should concentrate on reducing the source of climate change, rather than on acclimatizing to the changes. The adaptive potential of the UNFCCC was considered to be an indicator of the degree to which societies could stand changes in climate, and was not understood as a policy objective. As a consequence of events that have unfurled since the inception of the UNFCCC, requirements and perceptions have changed. Today, there are robust grounds for having adaptation as a policy goal, but it must be documented that the UNFCCC, and its Kyoto Protocol in specific, are first and foremost about abating greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, adaptation policy may find a more suitable home beyond the current climate change regime.
