United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in the context of "Earth Summit"

The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was negotiated by 196 parties at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference near Paris, France. As of February 2023, 195 members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are parties to the agreement. Of the three UNFCCC member states which have not ratified the agreement, the only major emitter is Iran. The United States, the second largest emitter, withdrew from the agreement in 2020, rejoined in 2021, and announced its withdrawal again in 2025.

The Paris Agreement has a long-term temperature goal which is to keep the rise in global surface temperature to well below 2 °C (3.6 °F) above pre-industrial levels. The treaty also states that preferably the limit of the increase should only be 1.5 °C (2.7 °F). These limits are defined as averages of the global temperature as measured over many years.

The climate movement is a global social movement focused on pressuring governments and industry to take action (also called climate activism or climate action) addressing the causes and impacts of climate change. Citizens, environmental non-profit organizations, and companies have engaged in significant climate activism since the late 1980s and early 1990s, as they sought to influence the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Climate activism has become increasingly prominent over time, gaining significant momentum during the 2009 Copenhagen Summit and particularly following the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2016. It is aimed at raising awareness of environmental issues, changing people's behaviour, and influencing policy and legislation.

Environmental organizations take various actions such as Peoples Climate Marches. A major event was the global climate strike in September 2019 organized by Fridays For Future and Earth Strike. The target was to influence the climate action summit organized by the UN on 23 September. According to the organizers four million people participated in the strike on 20 September. Youth activism and involvement has played an important part in the evolution of the movement after the growth of the Fridays For Future strikes started by Greta Thunberg in 2019. In 2019, Extinction Rebellion organized large protests demanding to "reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2025, and create a citizens' assembly to oversee progress", including blocking roads.

The Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (GORD) is a Research and Development (R&D) entity targeting United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on multiple fronts with a focus on environmental sustainability. GORD worked as the sustainability partner for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. It is leading the official Qatar Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineer (AEE). Founded in 2009 by Dr. Yousef Alhorr, GORD is also chairing the GSO Technical Committee for Sustainable Buildings (TC17) in GCC Standardization Organization (GSO). The committee is chartered for developing a regional code consolidating green buildings related standards and schemes. For its initiatives aimed at accelerating climate solutions, GORD has partnered with UN agencies including, UNESCO, UNEP and UNFCCC. GORD is also the sustainability partner of the International Horticultural Expo 2023 Doha.

Headquartered in Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), GORD's research activities involve RDI in areas of energy efficiency and ecofriendly building materials. Among key outcomes of GORD's research activities is the development of Synergia 7n1, which is a hybrid cooling system that is designed for enclosed and open spaces with minimal carbon footprint compared to traditional air conditioning units. 

Climate finance is an umbrella term for financial resources such as loans, grants, or domestic budget allocations for climate change mitigation, adaptation or resiliency. Finance can come from private and public sources. It can be channeled by various intermediaries such as multilateral development banks or other development agencies. Those agencies are particularly important for the transfer of public resources from developed to developing countries in light of UN Climate Convention obligations that developed countries have.

There are two main sub-categories of climate finance based on different aims. Mitigation finance is investment that aims to reduce global carbon emissions. Adaptation finance aims to respond to the consequences of climate change. Globally, there is a much greater focus on mitigation, accounting for over 90% of spending on climate. Renewable energy is an important growth area for mitigation investment and has growing policy support.

The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11 was held in Paris, France, from 30 November to 12 December 2015. It was the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 11th session of the Meeting of the Parties (CMP) to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

The conference negotiated the Paris Agreement, a global agreement on the reduction of climate change, the text of which represented a consensus of the representatives of the 196 attending parties. The agreement was due to enter into force when joined by at least 55 countries which together represented at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, a target reached on 4 November 2016. On 22 April 2016 (Earth Day), 174 countries signed the agreement in New York, and began adopting it within their own legal systems (through ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession).

In April 2016, the United States became a signatory to the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation, and accepted it by executive order in September 2016. President Barack Obama committed the United States to contributing US$3 billion to the Green Climate Fund. On June 1, 2017, U.S. president Donald Trump announced that the United States would cease all participation in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation, contending that the agreement would "undermine" the U.S. economy, and put the U.S. "at a permanent disadvantage".

In accordance with Article 28 of the Paris Agreement, a country cannot give notice of withdrawal from the agreement within the first three years of its start date in the relevant country, which was on November 4, 2016, in the case of the United States. The White House later clarified that the U.S. would abide by the four-year exit process. On November 4, 2019, the administration gave a formal notice of intention to withdraw, which takes 12 months to take effect. The withdrawal took effect on November 4, 2020, one day after the 2020 U.S. presidential election. However, the U.S. still has to report its greenhouse gas inventory because it remains in the UNFCCC.

Edmond Clint Fernandes (born 3 September 1990) is an Indian physician who is the founder and CEO of CHD Group, an Indian non-profit global health organization holding United Nations Economic and Social Council special consultative Status & UNFCCC Observership Status. He is a member of the Health Task Force, DDMA, Government of Karnataka & Alumnus of US Department of State. He served as Former Consultant to UNESCAP Bangkok.

The history of climate change policy and politics refers to the continuing history of political actions, policies, trends, controversies and activist efforts as they pertain to the issue of climate change. Climate change emerged as a political issue in the 1970s, when activist and formal efforts sought to address environmental crises on a global scale. International policy regarding climate change has focused on cooperation and the establishment of international guidelines to address global warming. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is a largely accepted international agreement that has continuously developed to meet new challenges. Domestic policy on climate change has focused on both establishing internal measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and incorporating international guidelines into domestic law.

In the 21st century, there has been a shift towards vulnerability-based policy for those most impacted by environmental anomalies. Over the history of climate policy, concerns have been raised about the treatment of developing nations. Critical reflection on the history of climate change politics provides "ways to think about one of the most difficult issues we human beings have brought upon ourselves in our short life on the planet".