The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) provides the basis for concerted international action to mitigate climate change and to adapt to its impacts. The Handbook aims at providing an overview of the institutional framework as well as the thematic work undertaken under the convention. It targets governments, researchers, non-governmental organisations and others interested in the international climate change negotiations.

The Handbook is the outcome of a project carried out by Ecologic for the Climate Change Secretariat. It is structured along two parts.

The first part (Chapters 1-10) focuses on the institutional and process aspects of the international climate change negotiations. It reviews the history of the climate change process, and provides an overview of the institutional arrangements: who does what in the process (the Conference of the Parties, the Bureau, the subsidiary bodies, and the secretariat); who is who in the process (Parties, negotiating groups, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, and media); and how to make changes to the Convention – amendments, adoption of protocols and annexes.

The second part (Chapters 11-19) provides an overview of the activities related to the implementation of the Convention, including on mitigation of climate change, adaptation to climate impacts, finance, technology transfer, capacity-building and reporting, as well as the discussions underway to shape future action on climate change.

While the Handbook is first and foremost about the Convention, it also touches on some aspects of the Kyoto Protocol.

It is also available for download.