The key players in climate change

• Set up by the UN environmental programme
• detailed research into climate change from 1988
• 190 countries signed an agreement that the world should stabilise GHG concentrations

1997

a legally binding agreement that the signed up countries had to meet emissions targets by 2012 (relative to 1997 levels)

208 countries signed up excluding US and China and Australia who were scared of economic losses

unfairness? varying targets

eg countries such as Iceland allowed to increase their consumption b/c less economically developed

richer countries producing the most and could afford changes

4% sounds low for US but much harder to achieve relatively than UK's 8%

some slow to sign up eg Russia 2004

EU has met target of 8%

UN said they were off target; emitting 10% ABOVE 1990 levels by 2010