2014 United Nations Climate Change Conference

2014 United Nations Climate Change Conference was the 20th session of the COP20 held in Lima, Peru from 1 to 12 December 2014, convening representatives from United Nations member states, European Union, ASEAN members, and regional blocs to advance negotiations toward a global climate agreement in Paris, 2015 and to address commitments under the Kyoto Protocol and the Cancún Agreements. Delegates from United States, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, Russia, Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Peru, and other Parties engaged with civil society actors including Greenpeace International, World Wide Fund for Nature, Oxfam International, Climate Action Network International, and business delegations such as World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Background and objectives

The conference followed the outcomes of COP19 in Warsaw and the deliberations of the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action and aimed to produce a negotiating text for the 2015 Paris Agreement while addressing outstanding issues from the Cancún Agreements and the Kyoto Protocol second commitment period; negotiators referenced frameworks including the IPCC Assessment Reports, inputs from the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, and submissions under the ADP. Delegates from negotiating groups such as the G77 and China, Umbrella Group, African Group of Negotiators, AOSIS, Least Developed Countries and the Like‑Minded Developing Countries coordinated positions corresponding to intended nationally determined contributions and modalities for finance under the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund.

Participants and negotiations

Participants included ministers and negotiators from United States Department of State, delegations from Ministry of Environment (Peru), representatives of the European Commission, envoys from China's National Development and Reform Commission, and negotiators from India Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, with observer delegations from UNFCCC Secretariat, United Nations Environment Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization, and intergovernmental bodies. Negotiations proceeded in formal sessions of the Conference of the Parties, the CMP, the ADP, and contact groups drawing input from stakeholders such as Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, OECD, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund. High-level dialogues featured ministers from France, Germany, United Kingdom, Norway, South Korea, New Zealand, Kenya, Ethiopia, Colombia, and representatives from Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Russian Federation Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Key outcomes and decisions

The Lima conference produced the Lima Call for Climate Action, an agreed set of elements intended to inform the Paris Agreement negotiation text, outlining the scope and information for parties’ contributions, transparency frameworks, and mitigation and adaptation components; the decision was taken by consensus among Parties including delegations from China, United States, India, Brazil, European Union, South Africa, and Japan. The meeting advanced arrangements on preparation of intended nationally determined contributions and requested submission timelines, clarified technical elements for nationally determined commitments, and addressed elements for finance mobilization via the Green Climate Fund and institutions such as the Global Environment Facility. The conference also reaffirmed decisions related to loss and damage under the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage and referenced participation by nongovernmental actors including BusinessEurope, International Chamber of Commerce, and Climate Action Network.

National commitments and pledges

Lima set procedural expectations for Parties to submit intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) in advance of COP21 in Paris, prompting early submissions from countries including European Union, United States, China, Mexico, Russia, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Monaco, Vanuatu, Marshall Islands, Ethiopia, Colombia, and Peru. Negotiators discussed mitigation pledges, adaptation plans, and finance commitments, linking them to entities such as the Green Climate Fund, bilateral initiatives like the US–China Joint Announcement on Climate Change process, and regional mechanisms such as the African Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Parties debated the scope of mitigation targets, accounting rules, and information requirements to ensure comparability across submissions from developed and developing Parties, as framed by coalition positions of the G77 and China, the Alliance of Small Island States, and the Least Developed Countries Group.

Implementation and follow-up mechanisms

The Lima decisions established procedural follow-up including timelines for INDC submissions, modalities for technical expert review, and preparatory workstreams under the ADP and UNFCCC bodies to refine transparency, accounting, and compliance mechanisms ahead of COP21; these mechanisms involved the UNFCCC Secretariat, the SBSTA, the SBI, and the AWG‑KP in legacy negotiation contexts. Operational follow-up engaged multilateral finance institutions such as the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Facility, and bilateral partners including Japan International Cooperation Agency, United States Agency for International Development, and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit to scale climate finance, while technical cooperation involved agencies like UNDP and UNEP to assist Parties in meeting reporting and implementation obligations.

Category:United Nations climate change conferences