in the trenches/climate
6b. Glossary of Negotiator Terms
We have purposely left out much of the technical jargon in the above summary. However, if you want to follow the negotiations more closely through accounts in the newspapers or through some of the Web Resources appended to the climate negotiation history, it may be helpful to understand some of the terms and acronyms commonly used in these discussions.
AGBM = Ad Hoc Group for the Berlin Mandate, which refers to the group of special representatives appointed by the countries to engage in interim negotiations, to resolve issues between the major meetings of the governments, or Conference of the Parties.
AOSIS = the Alliance of Small Island States, a group of 37 countries with the most to lose from global warming and rising sea levels. AOSIS was pressing at Kyoto for a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2005.
Annex I = The group of industrialized nations that in Kyoto agreed to reduce their emissions below 1990 levels.
Clean Development Mechanism = Proposal adopted in Kyoto by which firms or governments from the industrialized countries can voluntarily finance greenhouse gas reductions in developing nations, resulting in credits towards their own emissions efforts. Formerly known as joint implementation.
COP = Conference of the Parties, or meetings between member countries that have signed the UNFCCC, or the Climate Treaty, when it was first developed in Rio.
EU = The European Union, including United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Greece, Austria, Sweden, and Finland.
G7 = The Group of Seven Industrialized Nations, including the US, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Japan, and Italy.
Group of 77 = The developing nations, except for China.
IPCC = the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the panel of scientists established in 1988 by governments under the auspices of the United Nations, to advise them on the science, impacts, and policy implications of climate change.
OECD = Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, i.e., most of the industrialized nations, except Russia.
Policies and measures = uniform policies across national boundaries to reduce emissions, including energy efficiency standards for appliances and automobiles.
QELROS = Quantified Emission Limitation and Reduction Objectives Within Specified Time-Frames, or targets and timetables for greenhouse emission reductions.
UNFCCC = United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the agreement first adopted May 9, 1992 in Rio, in which industrialized countries agreed to try to return their emissions of greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by the year 2000. In December of 1997, a new Protocol was added in Kyoto, calling for these same countries to make binding reductions below 1990 levels by the period 2008-2012.