1.4 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznań, Poland

The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznań, Poland (COP14), took place 1–12 December 2008 and saw the completion of the adaptation fund, with the Fund Board being given the legal capacity to grant direct access to developing countries. The conference included a ministerial round table on a shared vision on long-term cooperative action on climate change, including further work on an agreed outcome at COP15, 7–18 December 2009 in Copenhagen, which is seen as possibly the last chance to produce an effective agreement to reduce carbon emissions globally in time to prevent the worst effects of climate change.

Activity 1

  • Using the UNFCCC resources as a starting point, list three key strengths and three key weaknesses of the Kyoto Protocol.

  • Consider COP15 in Copenhagen. Do you agree with the statement that it is ‘the last chance to produce an effective agreement to reduce carbon emission globally in time to prevent the worst effects of climate change’?

1.3 Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD)

1.5 The European Commission's ‘Climate Action: Energy for a Changing World’