Insights from Durban to Doha

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC) is an international environmental treaty negotiated at the United Nation Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit [1]. Each year since 1995, the parties to the convention have met at the Conferences of the Parties (COP) to assess approaches to climate change and related progress. Annual COP conferences rotate among the five UN regional groups; the African Group last year hosted COP 17 on 29 November 2011 in Durban, South Africa. At COP 17, The State of Qatar and the Republic of Korea from the Asian Group agreed to cooperate in order host and encourage the success of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP 18/CMP 8 (the 18th Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC, plus the 8th session of the Conference of the Parties, serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol), which will take place in Qatar from November 26th through December 7th, 2012 [2]. The countries decided on a joint effort in preparing for the conference to globally promote and implement the green growth agenda. The Republic of Korea stands behind the green economy concept as a strategy to foster sustainable development and poverty eradication. One of the world’s main energy exporters, the State of Qatar expressed its eagerness to secure progress in the UN climate change negotiations and to support developing countries, including Small Island Developing States (SIDS), in adapting to the effects of climate change [2]. Hosting the UN climate change negotiations this year makes Qatar the first OPEC nation to do so.