United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

About the Secretariat What is the purpose of the Secretariat? The UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change) is the United Nations entity tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change. UNFCCC stands for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Convention has near universal membership (197 Parties) and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep the global average temperature rise this century as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The UNFCCC is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The ultimate objective of all three agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development. When was the secretariat created? The secretariat was established in 1992 when countries adopted the UNFCCC. The original secretariat was in Geneva. Since 1995, the secretariat has been located in Bonn, Germany. Who works at the secretariat? Around 450 staff are employed at UN Climate Change. Secretariat staff come from over 100 countries and represent a blend of diverse cultures, gender and professional backgrounds. At the head of the secretariat is the Executive Secretary, a position currently held by Patricia Espinosa. What does the secretariat do? Focussing in its early years largely on facilitating the intergovernmental climate change negotiations, the secretariat today supports a complex architecture of bodi