Your location: Home >  > Basic Facts & Figures

Fast facts & figures
Key numbers on the:
Kyoto Protocol
Flexible Mechanisms
Greenhouse gas emissions
Bali Road Map and Cancun Agreements
Negotiating sessions
On the Secretariat
How many staff are there at the Secretariat?
495 at last count, (July 2013).
On the Convention
When was the Convention adopted?
When did the Convention come into force?
How many countries are Party to the Convention?
194 (+ the EU)
On the Kyoto Protocol
How many Convention Parties are Party to the Kyoto Protocol?
When was the Kyoto Protocol adopted?
When did the Kyoto Protocol come into force?
When and where was the amendment to the Kyoto Protocol for the second commitment period adopted?
2012 in Doha, Qatar.
On flexible mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol
The latest facts and figures on the Kyoto Protocol's clean development mechanism (CDM), including information about CERs and graphics and related downloadable data for project activities, can be found here.  
On greenhouse gas emissions
Do you have estimates for historical and projected global GHG emissions, i.e., emissions for the whole world?
We don't collect or estimate GHG emissions for the world in total. The reason is that, according to the reporting requirements under the Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, the format and coverage of GHG data are different for Annex I Parties to the Convention ("industrialized" countries) and non-Annex I Parties ("developing" countries), and so we are not able to calculate a value for the world total accurately. Estimates for global emissions are made by some other organizations (such as the International Energy Agency) and they can be found at their websites.
What is "CO2 equivalent"?
GHG emissions/removals can be expressed either in physical units (such as grams, tonnes, etc.) or in terms of CO2 equivalent (grams CO2 equivalent, tonnes CO2 equivalent, etc.). The conversion factor from physical units to CO2 equivalent is the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of the corresponding GHG. If X Gg of CH4 is to be expressed in terms of CO2 equivalent, then it is multiplied by 21, which is GWP of CH4 over 100 years timescale.
On the Bali Road Map and Cancun Agreements
When was the Bali Road Map agreed on?
When were the Cancun Agreements created and agreed on?
What is this 2 degrees C goal?
A 2 degrees Celsius/Centigrade rise in global temperatures from pre-industrial levels is the highest rise we can afford if we want a 50% chance of avoiding the worst effects of climate change.
What is concentration of carbon dioxide equivalent in the atmosphere that the world must stay at or under to stay true to the 2 degrees Celsius goal?
450 parts per million.
What's the current concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
398.58 parts per million.
What was the base from which it grew, and when?
Before the Industrial Revolution, concentrations were fairly stable at 280 parts per million. This has gone up 41% from then till now.
On the negotiating sessions
How many journalists attend the negotiating sessions?
Up to 4000 media representatives have attended the annual Conferences of the Parties and Conferences of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol(COP/CMP).
How many representatives of observer organizations attend the negotiating sessions?
2,000 on average at smaller negotiating sessions.
7,000 on average at Conferences of the Parties and Conferences of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The decisions at COPs are taken by governments. On average, 40% and 60% of the overall number of participants at UNFCCC meetings are representatives of the UNFCCC's over 1,500 admitted observer organisations.
How many negotiating sessions are there per year?
4 a year, on average, in recent years. The Rules of Procedure provide for two sessional periods per year. Ordinary sessions of the COP are held once every year, and the SBSTA and the SBI usually meet twice a year, once in conjunction with sessions of the COP. If countries feel they need more time to complete their mandated work before a COP, they request and agree on additional sessions.
Which COP is this year's COP?
20th. In December 2014, Peru will host COP20 in Lima.
Which CMP is this year's CMP?
10th. The meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol takes place simultaneously with the meeting of the COP.