Acronyms for meetings of the IPCC
COP: Conference of the Parties
CMP: Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol
CMA: Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA)
1988
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is set up by the UN and the World Meteorological Organisation, bringing together the world’s leading climate scientists to assess knowledge of climate change and provide scientific advice to policymakers.
1990
The First Assessment report from the IPCC shows the climate changes partly owing to natural variability, but that greenhouse gas emissions from human activity play a role, and predicts temperature rises of 0.3C a decade in the 21st century, higher than seen in 10,000 years, and sea level rises of 60cm by 2100.
1992
At a major conference in Rio de Janeiro, world governments sign the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, a treaty binding them to “achieve … stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”, usually shortened to “avoid dangerous climate change”. From this, establishing what level of warming should be classed as “dangerous” and what avoiding this entails, become key questions.
1995
Conference of the Parties (COP) 1: Berlin, Germany
The Second Assessment report is published, showing carbon dioxide is the main contributor to warming, and that human actions increasing carbon concentrations in the atmosphere could alter the climate irreversibly.
1996
COP 2: Geneva, Switzerland
1997
COP 3: Kyoto, Japan
The Kyoto protocol, an addition to the UNFCCC treaty stipulating cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from developed countries by 2012, is signed. However, the US – then the world’s biggest emitter – fails to ratify the protocol, leaving it in abeyance. It eventually comes into legal force in 2005 after Russia ratifies it.
1998
COP 4: Buenos Aires, Argentina
1999
COP 5: Bonn, Germany
2000
COP 6: The Hague, Netherlands
2001
COP 6-2: Bonn, Germany (Continuation of COP 6 meeting in The Hague, Netherlands)
COP 7: Marrakech, Morocco
The Third Assessment report is published, showing the world has warmed by 0.6C compared with pre-industrial levels, and in the last 50 years this was mainly due to human activity. The report predicts temperature rises of between 1.4C and 5.8C by 2100, and sea level rises of 0.1 to 0.9 metres.
2002
COP 8: New Delhi, India
2003
COP 9: Milan, Italy
2004
COP 10: Buenos Aires
2005
COP 11/CMP 1: Montreal, Canada
2006
COP 12/CMP 2: Nairobi, Kenya
The UK government publishes the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, led by the former World Bank chief economist Sir Nicholas Stern, showing for the first time that the catastrophic economic impacts of climate change far outstrip the relatively modest costs of reducing emissions.
2007
COP 13/CMP 3: Bali, Indonesia
The Fourth Assessment report is published, showing that warming is “unequivocal” with more than 90% certainty that this comes from human activity. The report confirms that beyond certain levels of warming, effects on the climate become irreversible and in many cases catastrophic, and posits scenarios for a range of estimates of future warming. The mid-range estimate of human-induced warming of about 2C above pre-industrial levels is adopted as the threshold of safety in political decisions on curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
The IPCC is awarded the Nobel peace prize for its efforts. Negotiations begin on a new global climate agreement.
2008
COP 14/CMP 4: Poznan, Poland
2009
COP 15/CMP 5: Copenhagen, Denmark
Governments meet in Copenhagen intending to draft an effective replacement for the Kyoto protocol. Amid bitter political fighting, they sign a partial declaration instead under which for the first time the biggest developed and developing countries agree to emissions curbs.
Before the Copenhagen conference, hacked emails appear to show climate scientists manipulating temperature figures, claims that were later rebuffed but which quickly gain notoriety. By early 2010, the “climategate” scandal has spread to the IPCC, with errors found in its 2007 report. Most are small, but one that Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035, taken from an unverified report, causes deep embarrassment. The IPCC introduces reforms to ensure such “grey” material is not included in future reports.
2010
COP 16/CMP 6: Cancun, Mexico
2011
COP 17/CMP 7: Durban, South Africa
2012
COP 18/CMP 8: Doha, Qatar
Amendment to the Kyoto protocol.
2013
COP 19/ CMP 9: Warsaw, Poland
2013-14
The Fifth Assessment report is published in stages, showing the 2C threshold will be breached within 30 years without urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
2014
COP 20/CMP 10: Lima, Peru
2015
COP 21/CMP 11: Paris, France
Governments sign the Paris agreement, the first fully legally binding international accord requiring all countries to hold global temperature rises to no more than 2C above pre-industrial levels, with an aspiration to limit rises to 1.5C. Soon after, the IPCC begins work on assessing whether the 1.5C aspiration is feasible, and how to meet it.
2016
COP 22/CMP 12/CMA 1-1: Marrakech, Morocco
2017
COP 23/CMP 13/CMA 1-2: Bonn, Germany
2018
COP 24/CMP 14/CMA 1-3: Katowice, Poland
A supplementary report on 1.5C rises is published, showing the aspiration is feasible but will require tough and urgent action to bring down greenhouse gas emissions.
2019
COP 25/CMP 15/CMA 2: Santiago, Chile
2020
COP 26/CMP 16
2022
The IPCC will publish its sixth assessment report, drawing together all current knowledge on climate change, its effects and ways to reduce emissions.