The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) came into being at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the convention got underway yesterday in Durban, South Africa. There are 194 countries that are party to the convention, plus the European Union. There are also over 1,400 NGOs and 86 IGOs that are observers to the convention. Add the journalists and all the other interested stakeholders, and you get thousands and thousands of folks gathered through December 9th to talk, learn, network, negotiate and generally advance the goals of the world community to successfully confront the climate crisis.
The South Africans are doing their bit to support the conference that is being held in a particularly lovely part of the continent. What can we expect? We can expect significant progress on a number of fronts: adaptation, a Green Climate Fund and other financial mechanisms, technology transfer, and mitigation.
The UNFCCC bimonthly newsletter has an excellent rundown in all these areas, plus messages from South African President Jacob Zuma and this from UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres.
