The secretariat serves as the impartial administrator of the climate change process. Its main task is to manage the negotiations so that delegates are in the right place, at the right time, equipped with the necessary documents, discussing the same agenda item, with all the facilities that they require. Given the complexity of the negotiations, which are among the largest in the UN system, this is no mean feat.
At COP 1 in Berlin, the Parties voted to move the secretariat to Bonn. The paper ballots from that vote are on display in the archival gallery.
At the start of the negotiations in 1991, the secretariat consisted of some 15 staff members and, at the time of its move to Bonn in 1996, the secretariat still had only 70 people on its payroll. As implementation of the UNFCCC began in earnest, the secretariat’s workload grew. By 2000, the secretariat had more than doubled in size, to reach nearly 150 staff members. The entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol in 2005 brought in new responsibilities (for example, to administer the market mechanisms and carry out technical analysis of emissions data).
At the same time, the scope of the climate change process was expanding (e.g. with a stronger push on adaptation and the forestry sector), while several new specialised bodies were set up. The tasks entrusted to the
secretariat by governments to help implement their commitments correspondingly multiplied. In early 2017, the secretariat numbered about 420 staff, made up of a diverse mix of nationalities.
Credit: UN DGC/Esra Sergi
Secretariat staff with the UN Secretary-General at COP 24
