Abstract:
Climate change is an overwhelming challenge faced by the contemporary world, and no nation-state is immune to this. It is a crisis for civilization, not only for human beings but also for all life forms on Earth. Various sources claim that human activities initiated the process of climate degradation after the Industrial Revolution. Climate change is the main driver of several natural abnormalities that directly or indirectly affect the lives and livelihoods of human beings, such as drought, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, increasing temperature, and the growing frequency, intensity, and severity of cyclones, and so on. Before the 1970s, nation-states never recognized climate change as a global issue, but after Rachel Carson’s seminal work, Silent Spring (1962), academicians started to discuss the environmental issues and their grave consequences, and political regimes and policymakers had to consider climate change as a crucial factor that called for attention and intervention by the state. But it is quite impossible for a state to deal with this crisis all by itself. Cooperative measures and initiatives are needed, and in this case, the role of global governance is very crucial. But how far global governance related to climate issues is capable of coping with this challenge needs to be analyzed. Hinging upon primary and secondary sources, this paper intends to examine the existing global governance policies, structures, and initiatives, and analyze how and to what extent to which these are in a position to deal with the issue of climate change.
Keywords: Climate change—crisis—policy—global climate governance
Introduction:
The causes of climate change and its consequences are increasing day by day. In a statement, Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres warned that the era of global warming has ended and “the era of global boiling has arrived.” The message is unmistakable; it is not just a warning but also a stark reality. Rising sea levels, melting glaciers, rising temperatures, drought, and the growing intensity and severity of cyclones, floods, and desertification are all direct or indirect consequences of climate change. If the necessary actions are not taken timely, the consequences will be dire. One question is particularly pertinent in this case: What role are global institutions and governance playing in mitigating this global climate crisis?
After the 1960s, environmental consciousness began to rise among scholars and in scientific communities, and Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Silent Spring served as a foundational text for increasing awareness of environmental issues among environmentalists and others.In the international realm, the environment had never been recognized as important as other issues related to state affairs before the 1960s and 70s. From this perspective, it is very new in the field of international relations. (Ambarish Mukhopadhyay, 2024, 86) Various global organizations have begun addressing the issue of climate change since the 1970s, but have the results been satisfactory? Finding this answer, this paper will be discussed in two parts. Part 1 will focus on the Conference of the Parties and its major initiatives to build up the global climate governance system, and Part 2 will discuss whether the existing climate governance structures are functioning well.
Background of the Conference of the Parties:
Until the 1970s, there was no international agreement that could deal with the climate crisis. Since the 1970s, the issue of climate change has gained recognition in the scientific community. The development of international climate organizations has evolved from a purely scientific endeavor into a complex, multi-layered system of global governance. International efforts began at the 1972 UN Conference on Human Environment (Stockholm); it was the first major international meeting that made the environment a global issue. The participants of this meeting adopted various principles for the adequate management of the environment, including the Stockholm Declaration, which contained 26 principles, emphasizing environmental issues at the forefront of international concerns. It also adopted the Action Plan for the Human Environment, which contained three main categories: a) Global Environment Assessment Programme (watch plan); b) Environment management activities; and c) International measures to support assessment and management activities carried out at the national and international levels. This conference gave birth to UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). Later, UNEP and the World Meteorological Organization jointly formed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1998. The main function of this institution is to provide policymakers with regular scientific assessments on climate change, its implications, and potential future risks, as well as to put forward adaptation and mitigation options.
Following the establishment of science, tackling this global issue required legal and structural efforts, such as the creation of international agreements and frameworks like the UNFCCC to guide global action on climate change. In 1992, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the first Human Environment Conference in Stockholm, Sweden, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), known as the Earth Summit, was held from June 3 to 14 and brought together political leaders, diplomats, scientists, representatives of the media, and non-governmental organizations. This Earth Summit had various great achievements, one of which is the birth of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In 1998, the UNFCCC secretariat was established in Bonn, Germany. This permanent body organizes the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) meetings.
Conference of the Parties and Global Climate Governance:
The first part will reveal a picture of the journey of global climate governance as we examine the Conference of the Parties and its outcomes. The Conference of the Parties, known as COP, is the highest decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as the UNFCCC. The COP meets every year, unless the parties decide otherwise. The COP presidency rotates among the five recognized regions, that is, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Others. The major function of the Conference of the Parties (COP) is to review national climate reports and emission inventories submitted by countries. The COP also serves as a platform for new agreements and frameworks.
This body was established and came into force on March 21, 1994, and its inaugural meeting, COP 1, was held in April 1995 in Berlin, resulting in the Berlin Mandate to address greenhouse gas emissions. If we review the COP conferences, we may identify the major developments and significant achievements of COP that contributed to global climate governance. Here, we will discuss a few significant outcomes of the COP meetings held at various times. At COP 3, which took place in 1997, member countries adopted the Kyoto Protocol on 11 December, but it didn’t come into force until 16 February 2005. This agreement was the first legally binding treaty aimed at reducing greenhouse gas. COP 21, which was held in 2015, was historic in terms of its universality; only Iran, Libya, and Yemen have not ratified it. At this conference, the Paris Agreement was signed, which applies to almost all countries; 198 countries signed this agreement, which aims to limit global warming to 1.5–2 degrees Celsius. COP 26 is another historic conference, which was held in 2021 and known as the Glasgow Climate Pact. This conference marked the first explicit mention of “phasing down” coal and doubling adaptation finance. COP 30, held in 2025 in Belém, focused on the “Global Goal on Adaptation” and refining the roadmap for the 2035 finance goal.
Many discussions and negotiations have taken place throughout the COP meetings, but recent climate meetings have produced a few statements, such as “The process is too slow.” “There is too much talk and not enough action,” and “it’s impossible to get nearly 200 countries to agree on anything beyond the lowest common denominator!” fueled this debate on whether climate governance is working well or not. Keeping these things in mind, this paper tries to answer the question of how far the role of global climate governance goes in dealing with climate change.
Global Climate Governance Reforms:
The voice is rising from various levels to reform the existing institution and its working process. Institutes must shift from negotiations to delivery to achieve the 2050 goal. Recent meetings uncovered the frustrations about slow-paced negotiations, limited action, and the difficulty of reaching an agreement among nearly 200 countries. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) struggles to move from negotiation to implementation and often produces outcomes below what the crisis demands.
It has taken 7 years since the 2015 signing of the Paris Agreement to finalize all components of the agreement. The consensus-based COP structure is predisposed to incremental progress—it took 6 years from The transition took place from Copenhagen/COP15 to Paris/COP21, followed by another 6 years to Glasgow/COP26 for progress on Article 6, and a further 7 years from Paris/COP21 to Sharm El-Sheikh/COP27 for progress on loss and damage. Meanwhile, global emissions and temperatures continue to rise, and climate extremes are occurring more frequently and with more severity than expected. The slow process of making decisions, complexity in negotiations, and difficulty in reaching consensus mean that there is a huge gap. from policy initiatives to implementation, from this perspective, alternative governance approaches are emerging.
At the 3rd session of the G20 Leaders’ Meeting: Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, in 2024, during his speech, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed his full dissatisfaction about the existing climate governance structures and their ill functions. In his words, the frustration is very clear: “The Kyoto Protocol has become a point of reference for frustration in collective action. COP15 in Copenhagen was a trauma that almost derailed the climate regime. The Paris Agreement is approaching Belém after ten years, and its results are still far from what is needed. There is no more time to waste.” He called on the international community to consider the creation of a United Nations Climate Council, an authoritative body that would bring together diverse expertise from politics, academia, industry, and civil society. According to him, a new governance structure—or reform of an existing one—must perform three functions: deliver authoritative policy advice, coordinate action across diverse actors, and anticipate risks to enable preemptive responses. The current system struggles with its existing mandates, let alone new ones.
On 24 July 2025, a workshop titled ‘Reimagining Climate Governance: Reforms, Models, and Actions: Designing Actionable Innovations to Meet Today’s Climate Needs,’ hosted by UNU-CPR with the governments of Brazil and Germany and the British Academy, convened leading experts to explore practical pathways for reforming global climate governance.
Conclusion:
Particularly, it is difficult to say that the global structures are doing well in managing or mitigating crises due to climate change. But it is also right that we cannot blame them fully for their incapability. Global organizations or the governance structure can only frame the policies, but they have no authority to implement them; they depend entirely on the nation-states. The global governance structures have various constraints, such as having no financial independence and having no political power, which limit their ability to effectively address and respond to climate change crises. So, if nation-states fail to implement climate policies or negotiate effectively, reforms to climate governance structures are irrelevant because they will not result in meaningful action to address urgent climate challenges. We can conclude this paper with the words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s statement on COP30. Yet, “the gap between where we are and what science demands remains dangerously wide.” Keeping global temperature rise below 1.5°C by the end of the century is vital and requires “deep, rapid emission cuts—with clear and credible plans to transition away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy.”
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