The Exhibition also includes a section with many interpretive panels dedicated to telling the story of the history of the process in a chronological timeline outlining highs and lows of the process. An excerpt from those panels can be seen here.
1992
An additional negotiating session (INC 5, part II) is convened, when it proves impossible for
negotiators to complete their work by the scheduled deadline. After intense negotiation, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) is adopted, to a standing ovation.
1995
The Conference of the Parties (COP) meets for
the first time in Berlin, chaired by Angela Merkel
(then Germany’s Minister for the Environment,
Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety), and
takes many decisions to implement the UNFCCC.
After heated debate, delegates eventually decide
that the UNFCCC’s commitments are
“not adequate”.
In a decision known as the “Berlin Mandate”,
they launch a new round of negotiations on
“a protocol or another legal instrument”.
Developing countries are exempt from new
commitments for this round. Negotiations begin
later that year under the “Ad hoc Group on the
Berlin Mandate” (AGBM), chaired by Ambassador
Raúl Estrada-Oyuela (Argentina).
1997
After eight negotiating sessions, delegates
convene in the Kyoto International Conference
Hall for the final stages of talks under the Berlin
Mandate, culminating in an intense round-the clock meeting of the “Committee of the Whole”
on the last night of the Conference. The Kyoto
Protocol, including binding emission targets
for developed countries, is adopted to
prolonged applause.
2000
Political disputes and sheer complexity
overwhelm delegates at COP 6 in The Hague.
The Conference ends in disarray, when COP
President Jan Pronk’s text produced as a
last-minute compromise is rejected.
2009
The Copenhagen Climate Conference raises the
political profile of climate change to the highest
levels, with attendance by a record number of
heads of state and government. A record number
of NGOs are also registered to attend, but security measures limit their access to the negotiating halls during the final few days. Deep political differences and concerns over the negotiation process eventually prevent delegates from reaching a consensus.
After a long and acrimonious final plenary, the COP simply takes note of the “Copenhagen Accord”, and the names of supportive countries are listed on the document (eventually over 140).
2015
After four years of negotiations – and a first failed
attempt in Copenhagen in 2009 – delegates meet
in Paris to finalise a deal on an ambitious and
global agreement. The stakes are high. Intensive
round-the-clock talks ensue, with the Comité de
Paris as a format for the talks and the “open door” policy of COP President Laurent Fabius eventually bearing fruit.
