COP21 stands for “the 21st Conference of Parties on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)”. The UN passed the convention back in 1992 and it took effect in 1994. Its contracting parties hold a conference every year to discuss important topics related to climate change and to find binding solutions.
COP3 in 1997 was particularly significant for it produced the Kyoto Protocol. The treaty obligated 41 developed countries to decrease their greenhouse emissions each year between 2005 and 2012. During COP18 in 2012, participating nations agreed to extend the Kyoto Protocol to 2020.
COP21 is considered the most important climate conference since it produced the Kyoto Protocol. That’s because the UNFCCC has a projected target of controlling the temperature raise to within two degrees Celsius by the end of the century. That target will be unreachable if the parties don’t agree upon a new treaty this year. At the current rate of increase, the temperature is projected to climb four degrees by the end of the century.
The year 2014 was the warmest year since 1880, and eight months in 2015 have already broken the record of warmest given month in history. Rising temperatures pose serious challenges to many of the 195 participating countries at COP21. Several island countries face being submerged under rising sea levels. African countries, on the other hand, face the problem of expanding deserts. And many other countries face severe problems with pollution.
Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Minister Wei Kuo-yen is the first Taiwanese official to take part in a UN climate conference. He said that he would pay special attention to several topics. They include the effects of extreme climate conditions on island countries, appropriate ways for the international community to monitor individual countries’ greenhouse gases, and the future establishment of a carbon tax trading system.
The Environmental Protection Administration says that Wei’s attendance will show the world Taiwan’s proactive attitude in dealing with climate change.