As of: April 2010

14th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and 4th Session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol

Poznań (Poland), 1 – 12 December 2008

The 14th UN Climate Change Conference in Poznań, Poland, marked an important milestone in the international negotiation process towards a post-2012 climate protection agreement: the transition from clarifying individual positions to concrete negotiations on the text for a new agreement. In this respect, the Poznań conference was a working meeting, it discussed crucial elements of a future climate protection regime and countries explained their respective positions once again.

With regard to the content of a new regime, discussions focussed above all on the necessary GHG reduction targets of the individual countries and the financial support for developing countries’ climate protection measures. Of course, no decisions were taken at this point. The Parties present did, however, agree to submit their national reduction targets and measures for 2020 by mid February 2009.

>At the same time discussions showed that a successful conclusion of the negotiations will depend crucially on significant increases in the financial support for climate protection measures in the developing countries. One of the Poznań conference's major results was that it took the necessary decisions to make operative the Kyoto Adaptation Fund decided upon in Bali. Developing countries are to have direct access to its funds pursuant to the Conference of the Parties’ provisions concerning financial control.