COP16: 16th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

About the committee

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international environmental treaty established to ameliorate the threat of climate change by stabilising greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. The Convention serves as a basis for global action to ‘protect the climate system for present and future generations’. It provides a framework within which governments can work together to carry out policies and measures that address climate change. The UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) meets annually. The Conference functions as the Convention’s primary decision-making institution.

Topics

In December 2009, world leaders gathered in Copenhagen in an attempt to come to an agreement on responding to and managing one of the greatest challenges of our times. Yet despite the great hope in the lead up to the conference, the Copenhagen Accord, while an initial step, failed both to live up to international public expectations, and to lay out a concrete plan to maintain global temperature rises at the stated goal of under 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Not only did the document fail to achieve legally binding reductions to CO2 emissions, but it was unable to secure the unanimous adoption of all parties.

The 16th Conference of Parties in Mexico 2010, presents an opportunity to build and strengthen the groundwork established at Copenhagen. At AMUNC the simulation will focus on two key agenda topics:

• The question of drafting a binding post-2012 treaty
• The question of creating a global carbon trading system