Transcript Introduction to the climate change conference

Introduction to the
Climate Change
Conference
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by The UK Government
An introduction to the
United Nations and
the Paris Climate Change
Conference
• What is the United Nations?
• What has the UN done to combat climate change so far?
• What is happening in Paris in 2015?
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by the UK government
GLP © Crown Copyright
What is the United Nations?
The United Nations (UN) started in 1945.
At the end of the Second World War, 51
countries signed the UN charter and
became the first UN members. The UK
was one of them.
They hoped to prevent future conflicts,
by talking and negotiation between
countries, and acting together.
Today there are 193 UN member states.
A UN poster from 1945
Image © Alamy / war posters
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National flags
outside the UN
Headquarters
in New York
Images © Shutterstock / Kevin (L), / photo story (R)
Ban Ki-moon, current UN
Secretary General
The UN has its main headquarters in New York, USA. Ban Ki-moon of
South Korea is the Secretary General – the UN’s spokesperson.
The UN gives countries a way to come together to discuss global issues,
such as climate change, and find solutions to them.
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The UN General Assembly
Hall in New York, USA.
Image © Shutterstock / Sean Pavone
The UN’s four main aims are to:
1. keep international peace
and security
2. develop friendly
relationships among nations
3. solve international problems
through cooperation
4. be a centre where nations
can work together.
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What has the UN done to
combat climate change so far?
The UN has focused on
reducing carbon
emissions in order to
tackle climate change.
In 2010, governments
agreed to reduce
emissions so that global
temperature increases
are limited to 2°C.
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Changing
global
temperatures
since 1850.
Image © Pearson Education Ltd
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1979
1988
1992
1995
The first world
climate
change
conference
takes place.
COP 21 is
held in Paris
in December.
The
International
Panel on
Climate
Change is set
up.
The
Copenhagen
accord is
drafted at
COP15.
The Earth
Summit is
held in Rio.
The Kyoto
protocol
comes into
force.
The first
Conference of
the Parties
(COP1) takes
place in
Berlin.
The Kyoto
protocol is
adopted at
COP3.
2009
2015
2005
1997
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What is happening in Paris?
The 21st annual Conference
of Parties (or COP21) is
happening in Paris, France
from 30 November to 11
December 2015.
The hope is to reach an
agreement, for the first time in
20 years of UN negotiations,
that all countries will sign up
to. The aim is to keep global
warming below 2°C and
prevent runaway climate
change.
The 2014 Conference of Parties (COP 20)
was held in Lima, Peru
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Before COP21 begins, each country will publish what it has done to reduce
emissions and what it plans to do next.
Plans for the conference – it will:
•focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as on helping
people adapt to climate change
•create a $100 billion per year fund, to help developing countries combat
climate change and ensure sustainable development
•be flexible, to meet each country’s needs and their ability to change.
The aim is to reach an agreement that:
•will come into force in 2020
•will help move the world to a low-carbon future
•will be sustainable so that change is long-term
•all countries will sign up to.
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More suggestions
You could follow the Paris Climate Change Conference on
Twitter at #cop21.
You could put together a scrapbook of news articles covering
COP21. Have a look at the Newsround or Guardian websites
to start you off.
You could watch the official COP21 video on YouTube.
Learn more about the work of the United Nations here.
The GLP is funded
by the UK government
GLP © Crown Copyright