The United Nations Climate Change Secretariat moved to Bonn,Germany in 1996, following the decision taken by UNFCCC Parties at COP 1 in Berlin.

Today, a staff of around 500 international civil servants works towards the UNFCCC’s goals, guided by the Convention’s 192 and the Protocol’s 184 contracting Parties. Among other things, the staff supports climate change negotiations, organises meetings and analyses and reviews climate change information and data reported by Parties.

The secretariat also supports the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, billed the world’s most ambitious environmental treaty. The Protocol strengthens the Convention by setting legally binding emission reduction requirements for 37 industrialised countries and the European Community. A compliance committee supported by the secretariat oversees its implementation.

Kyoto Protocol countries must first and foremost take domestic action against climate change. The Protocol also allows them to meet their emission reduction commitments abroad through so-called “market-based mechanisms”. For example, the clean development mechanism permits industrialised countries to generate credits through investments in emission reduction projects in developing countries, ranging from wind turbines to energy efficiency projects.

The UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol are also designed to assist countries in adapting to the inevitable effects of climate change. The secretariat supports governments and institutions to develop the techniques that can help increase resilience to climate change impacts, to exchange best practices with regard to adaptation and to negotiate funding for adaptation measures and plans.