Under the "Bali Action Plan", countries around the globe are endeavoring to reach agreement by the end of 2009 on effective, feasible, and fair actions beyond 2012 to address risks of climate change driven by human-related emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). This document provides a U.S.-centric chronology of the international policy negotiations to address climate change. It begins before agreement on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992, and proceeds through the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, the Marrakesh Accords of 2001, and the Bali Action Plan of 2007 that mandates the current negotiations. This chronology identifies selected external events and major multilateral meetings that have influenced the current legal and institutional arrangements, as well as contentious issues for further cooperation. Today?s negotiations under the Bali Action Plan focus on four elements: mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions; adaptation to impacts of climate change; financial assistance to low income countries; and technology development and transfer. They also are intended to define a 'shared vision' for reducing global GHG emissions by around 2050. For U.S. legislators, important issues include the compatibility of any international agreement with U.S. domestic policies and laws; the adequacy of appropriations, fiscal measures and programs to achieve any commitments under the agreement; and the desirable form of the agreement and related requirements for potential Senate ratification and federal implementing legislation.

It begins before agreement on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, and proceeds through the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, the Marrakesh Accords of 2001, the Bali Action Plan of 2007, and the Copenhagen conference in 2009. [...] For U. S. legislators, additional issues include the compatibility of any international agreement with U. S. domestic policies and laws; the adequacy of appropriations, fiscal measures, and programs to achieve any commitments under the agreement; and the desirable form of the agreement and related requirements, with a view toward potential Senate ratification of the agreement and federal legislati [...] China has surpassed the United States as the leading emitter of GHG, although the United States historically has contributed more-almost one-fifth of the rise of GHG concentrations in the atmosphere. [...] The UNFCCC does not, however, include measurable and enforceable objectives and commitments.3 By the time the treaty entered into force and the Conference of the Parties (COP) met for the first time in 1995, the Parties agreed that achieving the objective of the UNFCCC would require new and stronger GHG commitments, though the Berlin Mandate deferred any new commitments for developing countries fo [...] The mandates specified that the products of negotiation should be ready by the end of 2009, for decision at the 15th meeting of the COP and the fifth meeting of the COP/MOP, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

This report provides an overview and analysis of congressional advisory commissions, information on the general statutory structure of a congressional commission, and a catalog of congressional commissions created since the 101st Congress.

The United States is a Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), but not to its subsidiary Kyoto Protocol. The UNFCCC treaty was intended to address growing global concern about the possibility of human-induced global warming. As a Party, the United States has certain obligations under the treaty, and our behaviours in that context are likely to continue to draw attention on the world stage. In addition, the United States has exercised leadership for decades on climate change science, and has supported related partnerships, technology research and development, and other forms of international co-operation. This book provides a chronology, from a U.S. perspective, on more than two decades of multilateral negotiations aimed at addressing this global issue.

This handbook provides an overview of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as of August 2006. It focuses on the institutional framework of the Convention and the actions taken by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention.