The Kyoto Protocol (Japanese: 京都議定書, Hepburn: Kyōto Giteisho) was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is occurring and that human-made CO2 emissions are driving it. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. There were 192 parties (Canada withdrew from the protocol, effective December 2012) to the Protocol in 2020.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the UN process for negotiating an agreement to limit dangerous climate change. Formally it is an international treaty among countries to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. It was signed in 1992 by 154 states at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro. The treaty entered into force on 21 March 1994. "UNFCCC" is also the name of the Secretariat charged with supporting the operation of the convention, with offices on the UN Campus in Bonn, Germany.
ETH Zurich is a public research university in Zürich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It consistently ranks among the 20 best universities in the world and its 16 departments span a variety of disciplines and subjects.
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a United Nations-run carbon offset scheme allowing countries to fund greenhouse gas emissions-reducing projects in other countries and claim the saved emissions as part of their own efforts to meet international emissions targets. It is one of the three Flexible Mechanisms defined in the Kyoto Protocol. The CDM, defined in Article 12 of the Protocol, was intended to meet two objectives: (1) to assist non-Annex I countries achieve sustainable development and reduce their carbon footprints; and (2) to assist Annex I countries in achieving compliance with their emissions reduction commitments.
Flexible mechanisms, also sometimes known as Flexibility Mechanisms or Kyoto Mechanisms, refers to emissions trading, the Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation. These are mechanisms defined under the Kyoto Protocol intended to lower the overall costs of achieving its emissions targets. These mechanisms enable Parties to achieve emission reductions or to remove carbon from the atmosphere cost-effectively in other countries. While the cost of limiting emissions varies considerably from region to region, the benefit for the atmosphere is in principle the same, wherever the action is taken.
The Gold Standard (GS), or Gold Standard for the Global Goals, is a standard and logo certification mark program, for non-governmental emission reductions projects in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), the Voluntary Carbon Market and other climate and development interventions. It is published and administered by the Gold Standard Foundation, a non-profit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It was designed with an intent to ensure that carbon credits are real, verifiable, and that projects make measurable contributions to sustainable development. The objective of the GS is to add branding, with a quality label, to carbon credits generated by projects which can then be bought and traded by countries that have a binding legal commitment according to the Kyoto Protocol, businesses, or other organizations for carbon offsetting purposes.
The European Metropolitan Region of Zürich (EMRZ), also Greater Zurich Area, the metropolitan area surrounding Zürich, is one of Europe’s economically strongest areas and Switzerland’s economic centre. It comprises the area that can be reached within a roughly 80-minute drive from Zurich Airport. Home to many international companies, it includes most of the canton of Zürich, and stretches as far as the Aargau and Solothurn in the west, Thurgau, St. Gallen and parts of Grisons in the east, Schaffhausen in the north and Zug and parts of Schwyz and Glarus in the south. Roughly three million people live in the area.
ecosecurities is a company specialized in carbon markets and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation projects worldwide. ecosecurities specializes in sourcing, developing and financing projects on renewable energy, energy efficiency, forestry and waste management with a positive environmental impact.
myclimate was spun off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich in 2002 as a nonprofit climate protection organisation based in Switzerland to enable climate protection with economic mechanisms such as price-tagging carbon dioxide and integrating the externality into the market. They promote climate protection on three levels: avoidance techniques such as capacity building and teaching, reduction and carbon offsetting. myclimate advocates for the development of a carbon market while setting new standards in carbon emissions and in designing a sustainable society.
Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen is a Costa Rican diplomat who has led national, international and multilateral policy negotiations. She was appointed Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in July 2010, six months after the failed COP15 in Copenhagen. During the next six years she worked to rebuild the global climate change negotiating process, leading to the 2015 Paris Agreement, widely recognized as a historic achievement.
Program of Activities (PoA) is a modality of project development under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Christoph Sutter is a Swiss carbon expert and entrepreneur. Christoph attended the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology where he studied for an MSc in environmental science (1993–1999) and a master of didactics on environmental science. He also concluded his PhD on the topic, "Sustainability Assessment of CDM Projects under the Kyoto Protocol" at the same school. His thesis was awarded the ETH medal for the best PhD thesis in 2003. He completed his education with a McKinsey mini MBA in Toronto in Summer 2005.
The International Day of Forests was established on the 21st day of March, by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on November 28, 2013. Each year, various events celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests, and trees outside forests, for the benefit of current and future generations. Countries are encouraged to undertake efforts to organize local, national, and international activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns, on International Day of Forests. The Secretariat of the United Nations Forum on Forests, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization, facilitates the implementation of such events in collaboration with governments, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, and international, regional and subregional organizations. International Day of Forests was observed for the first time on March 21, 2013.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a fund established within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism to assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change. The GCF is based in Incheon, South Korea. It is governed by a Board of 24 members and supported by a Secretariat.
The World Resources Forum (WRF) is a non-profit organisation for sharing knowledge about the economic, political, social and environmental implications of global resource use. WRF promotes resource productivity among researchers, policymakers, business, NGOs and the public. In addition to organizing international and regional conferences, the WRF Secretariat coordinates multistakeholder dialogue projects, amongst others the Sustainable Recycling Initiative (SRI) as well as the H2020 projects Towards a World Forum on Raw Materials (FORAM), and CEWASTE. The WRF contributes to other EC-projects and projects with the German development organisation GiZ, UNEP and UNIDO.
The Mid-Himalayan Watershed Development Project (MHWDP) is a 222,951 ha land husbandry initiative in Himachal Pradesh, India, that aims by means of green growth and sustainable development to establish a functionally tenable watershed ecosystem. MHWDP has started to reverse several decades of degradation of the natural resource base including forests, has achieved improved agricultural yields and productivity, and has raised rural household incomes. It includes the Himachal Pradesh Reforestation Project (HPRF), the world's largest clean development mechanism (CDM) project.
South Pole is a Swiss carbon finance consultancy founded in 2006 in Zurich, Switzerland. South Pole's business covers project and technology finance, data and advisory on sustainability risks and opportunities, as well as the development of environmental commodities such as carbon and renewable energy credits. The company has 23 offices across Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America.
Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who serves as a member of the German Bundestag, the German federal parliament.
Robert K. Heuberger was a Swiss real estate entrepreneur, patron of the arts and an author under the pseudonym Victor Vermont.
Koko Warner is a climate change expert who specializes in human migration and displacement and who holds a PhD in economics from the University of Vienna. In 2014, the International Council for Science named Warner as one of the top 20 women making contributions to climate change debate.
