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Climate change formed part of
the thematic cluster with energy, industrial development, and air
pollution/atmosphere reviewed by the
Commission on
Sustainable Development at its
fourteenth
session in 2006 and
fifteenth session
in 2007.
The Earth's climate system has
demonstrably changed on both global and regional scales since the
pre-industrial era, with some of these changes attributable to human
activities. The atmospheric concentrations of key anthropogenic
greenhouse gases (i.e. carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and tropospheric ozone (O3) reached their highest recorded levels, primarily
due to the combustion of fossil fuels, agriculture, and land use
changes. The consensus scientific basis on climate change is provided by
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), established in the late 1980s under the auspices of
the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and UNEP. The summary of the
IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, released in early 2007, concludes that
the warming of the climate system is unequivocal and accelerating. It
goes on to state that the observed increase in global average
temperatures is very likely (greater than 90 % confidence) due to GHG
emissions from human activities, up from greater than 60%
confidence in its 2001 assessment report.
Agenda 21, which addresses
climate change under its
Chapter 9 (Protection of the atmosphere), recognizes that activities
that may be undertaken in pursuit of the objectives defined therein
should be coordinated with social and economic development in an
integrated manner with a view to avoiding adverse impacts on the latter,
taking into full account the legitimate priority needs of developing
countries for the achievement of sustained economic growth and the
eradication of poverty. Both Agenda 21 and the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) assert that the
United Nations Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC)
is the key instrument for addressing climate change.
The UNFCCC aims to stabilize
of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would
prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
With 189 Parties, the Convention is virtually a universal instrument.
The
Kyoto Protocol, which entered into force on 16 February 2005, sets
binding emission reductions targets for industrialized countries for the
first commitment period 2008-2012. The Protocol has 174 Parties (as at 6
June 2007).
Climate change impacts can
undermine countries' efforts to achieve the goals of sustainable
development, including in particular by worsening poverty in developing
countries, especially the Least Developed Countries and the Small Island
Developing States. The IPCC projects that many millions will be flooded
every year due to sea-level rise by the 2080s, with densely-populated
and low-lying areas where adaptive capacity is relatively low, and which
already face other challenges such as tropical storms or local coastal
subsidence, facing special risks. Climate change is expected to have an
uneven impact on food production. Moderate temperature increases will
see a rise in productivity at the global level, but at lower latitudes,
especially seasonally dry and tropical regions, crop productivity is
projected to decrease for even small local temperature increases
(1-2ｰC), increasing risk of hunger.
Development paths and
production and consumption patterns have various impacts on the climate
system. Increasingly climate change is being considered in the broader
context of sustainable development, for instance through the integration
of climate policies into national development planning and national
sustainable development strategies.
Please also see the UN's
Gateway on Climate Change
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