|
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol are serviced by the
secretariat, also known as the Climate Change Secretariat, whose mandate is laid out in general terms
in Article 8 of the Convention.
The main functions of the secretariat are to:
- make practical arrangements for sessions of the Convention and Protocol bodies
- monitor implementation of the commitments under the Convention and the Protocol through
collection, analysis and review of information and data provided by Parties
- assist Parties in implementing their commitments
- support negotiations, including through the provision of substantive analysis
- maintain registries for the issuance of emission credits and for the assigned amounts of
emissions of Parties that are traded under emission trading schemes
- provide support to the compliance regime of the Kyoto Protocol
- coordinate with the secretariats of other relevant international bodies, notably the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and its implementing
agencies (UNDP, UNEP and the World Bank), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and other relevant conventions.
Specific tasks include:
- the preparation of official documents for the COP and subsidiary bodies
- the coordination of In-Depth Reviews of Annex I Party
national communications
- the compilation of greenhouse gas inventory data.
The growth in technical work needed since the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol (e.g. on reporting
guidelines and the LULUCF sector) is leading to a trend of increased technical expertise within the
secretariat.
The secretariat is institutionally linked to the United Nations without being integrated in any
programme, and administered under United Nations Rules and Regulations. It now employs some 200
staff, including short-term staff and consultants, from all over the world. Its head, the Executive
Secretary, is appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations in consultation with the COP
through its Bureau, and currently holds the rank of Assistant-Secretary-General. The Executive
Secretary reports to the Secretary-General through the Under-Secretary-General heading the Department
of Management on administrative and financial matters, and through the Under-Secretary-General
heading the Department for Economic and Social
Affairs on other matters.
As an impartial body of international civil servants, the secretariat is accountable, through the
Executive Secretary, to the COP, CMP and subsidiary bodies and carries out those tasks that fall
under its mandate in the Convention and programme budget. The COP, CMP and subsidiary bodies will
often request a specific assignment from the secretariat within this mandate, for example, to prepare
a background study on a particular issue. The secretariat is guided in its work by the Bureau of
the COP.
Since August 1996, the secretariat has been located in Bonn, Germany. It moved from its previous location in
Geneva, Switzerland, following an offer from Germany to host the secretariat, an
offer accepted by COP 1.
Every two years, the Executive Secretary proposes a programme budget, setting out the main tasks to
be performed by the secretariat in the coming biennium and the funding needed to carry out this work.
This proposal is considered in the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI), which then recommends a
programme budget for approval by the COP. For the biennium 2006-2007, the programme budget adopted by
COP 11 stands at about US$27 million for 2006 and US$26 million for 2007. The Programme Budget is
funded by contributions from Parties, their shares being based on the UN scale of assessment.
The secretariat's structure is kept under review to ensure that it responds to the changing needs
of the climate change process. A revised structure for the biennium 2006-2007 was adopted at COP 11,
reflecting developments in the climate change process and lessons learned in implementation. For more
information, please visit the
programme pages.
|
RSS | SITEMAP | FAQ | CONTACT
US | DISCLAIMER | ESPAÑOL | FRANÇAIS
