Climate change, a top issue on the global agenda, continues to shape our era. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations body providing regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts, future risks and options for adaptation and mitigation, "climatic changes occur as a result of natural changes or human activities."

Since the last quarter of the 20th century, climate change and its negative consequences have been at the forefront of the most fundamental environmental issues. However, its root causes date back to the 1880s as the world witnessed the fallouts of the Industrial Revolution, which triggered the intensive use of fossil fuels in today's developed countries. After that, everything began to develop cumulatively and negatively, paving the way for today's climate crises.

Fortunately, environmental awareness has accelerated in the following period and the first step on climate change was taken in 1979 with the First World Climate Conference (WCC-1), organized under the leadership of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

In 1988, the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) decided to "protect the global climate on behalf of present and future generations of humanity." In the same year, the IPCC was established with the joint initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the WMO.

The IPCC's First Assessment Report (FAR), confirming the reality of climate threat was published in 1990, and the Second World Climate Conference (WCC-2) was held the same year, calling for a global agreement on the issue. The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which was agreed upon as a result of long negotiations based on this call, was opened for signature at the 1992 Rio Summit and entered into force in 1994.

Climate convention and divisions

According to the international climate convention, countries are divided into three groups under the "principle of common but differentiated responsibilities."