Fast facts & figures

On the Secretariat

How many staff are there at the Secretariat?

470 at last count, (September 2011). 545 live bodies, if you also count our interns, fellows, consultants and daily-rated staff.

On the Convention

When was the Convention adopted?

1992.

When did the Convention come into force?

1994.

How many countries are Party to the Convention?

194 (+ the EU), at last count (September 2011).

On the Kyoto Protocol

How many Convention Parties are Party to the Kyoto Protocol?

192.

When was the Kyoto Protocol adopted?

1997.

When did the Kyoto Protocol come into force?

2005.

On flexible mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol

How many CDM projects are registered in the world?

3,497, at last count (October 2011).

How many CDM projects are registered in each region of the world?

At last count (October 2011):
Asia and the Pacific: 2,862 (81.77%)
Latin America and the Caribbean: 553 (15%)
Africa: 71 (2.03%)
Eastern Europe: 14 (0.4%)

There are currently 61 projects requesting registration.

What percentage are small and large projects?

43.07% are small projects.
56.39% are large projects.

What sorts of projects are they?

The majority of projects (67.33%) are in energy industries. The second largest proportion of projects tackle waste handling and disposal (14.03%).

How many Certified Emission Reduction certificates are there in circulation?

There are 525,926,315 annual average CERs generated by the registered projects, and more than 2,070,000,000 CERs expected until end of 2012.

On greenhouse gas emissions

Do you have estimates for historical and projected global GHG emissions, i.e., emissions for the whole world?

We don’t collect or estimate GHG emissions for the world in total. The reason is that, according to the reporting requirements under the Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, the format and coverage of GHG data are different for Annex I Parties to the Convention (“industrialized” countries) and non-Annex I Parties (“developing” countries), and so we are not able to calculate a value for the world total accurately. Estimates for global emissions are made by some other organizations (such as the International Energy Agency) and they can be found at their websites.

What is “CO2 equivalent”?

GHG emissions/removals can be expressed either in physical units (such as grams, tonnes, etc.) or in terms of CO2 equivalent (grams CO2 equivalent, tonnes CO2 equivalent, etc.). The conversion factor from physical units to CO2 equivalent is the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of the corresponding GHG. If X Gg of CH4 is to be expressed in terms of CO2 equivalent, then it is multiplied by 21, which is GWP of CH4 over 100 years timescale.

On the Bali Road Map and Cancun Agreements

When was the Bali Road Map agreed on?

2007.

When were the Cancun Agreements created and agreed on?

2010.

What is this 2 degrees C goal?

A 2 degrees Celsius/Centigrade rise in global temperatures from pre-industrial levels is the highest rise we can afford if we want a 50% chance of avoiding the worst effects of climate change.

What is concentration of carbon dioxide equivalent in the atmosphere that the world must stay at or under to stay true to the 2 degrees Celsius goal?

450 parts per million.

What’s the current concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?

370 parts per million.

What was the base from which it grew, and when?

Before the Industrial Revolution, concentrations were fairly stable at 280 parts per million. This has gone up 30% from then till now.

On the negotiating sessions

How many journalists attend the negotiating sessions?

Up to 4000 media representatives have attended the annual Conferences of the Parties and Conferences of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol(COP/CMP).

How many representatives of observer organizations attend the negotiating sessions?

2,000 on average at smaller negotiating sessions.
7,000 on average at Conferences of the Parties and Conferences of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The decisions at COPs are taken by governments. On average, 40% and 60% of the overall number of participants at UNFCCC meetings are representatives of the UNFCCC’s over 1,500 admitted observer organisations.

How many negotiating sessions are there per year?

4 a year, on average, in recent years. The Rules of Procedure provide for two sessional periods per year. Ordinary sessions of the COP are held once every year, and the SBSTA and the SBI usually meet twice a year, once in conjunction with sessions of the COP. If countries feel they need more time to complete their mandated work before a COP, they request and agree on additional sessions.

Which COP is this year’s COP?

18th. In November-December 2012, Qatar will host COP18 in Doha.

Which CMP is this year’s CMP?

8th.  The meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol takes place simultaneously with the meeting of the COP.