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Global Change and Climate Change Links: International Organisations and Programmes

» United Nations

» Conventions

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» International Environmental Organisations

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  • IUCN - The World Conservation Union
    IUCN was created in 1948. It is the world's largest conservation-related organisation, bringing together 76 states, 111 government agencies, 732 NGOs, 36 affiliates, and some 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries. Its mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. Within the framework of global conventions IUCN has promoted sustainability and helped over 50 countries to prepare and implement National Conservation Strategies.

» Intern. Organisations for Energy, Trade, Development

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  • World Bank
  • The Global Environment Facility (GEF)
    The Facility, originally set up as a pilot program in 1991, was restructured and replenished with over US$ 2 billion in 1994, to cover the agreed incremental costs of activities that benefit the global environment in four focal areas: climate change; biological diversity; international waters; and stratospheric ozone. Activities concerning land degradation, primarily desertification and deforestation, as they relate to the four focal areas, are also eligible for funding. Both the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity have designated the GEF as their funding mechanism on an interim basis. GEF projects and programs are managed through three implementing agencies: the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank. The GEF Secretariat, which is functionally independent from the three implementing agencies, reports to and services the Council and Assembly of the GEF.
  • World Trade Organization (WTO)
    • WTO: Environment
      When trade ministers signed the results of the Uruguay Round negotiations in Marrakesh in April 1994, they also took a formal decision to begin a comprehensive work programme on trade and environment in the WTO. Their decision ensured that the subject has been given and will continue to be given a high profile on the WTO agenda.
  • Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)
    • OECD: Environment
      The OECD provides governments with the analytical basis to develop environmental policies that are effective and economically efficient, including through performance reviews, data collection, policy analysis, and projections.
    • OECD: Sustainable Development
      How can we meet the needs of today without diminishing the capacity of future generations to meet theirs? Sustainable development implies a broad view of human welfare, a long term perspective about the consequences of today's activities, and global co-operation to reach viable solutions.
      • Climate Change, Energy and Transport
        Recent phenomenal growth in energy and transport use has led to more pollution; resource depletion; congestion; and an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change. The OECD studies policies and their impacts on the environment and the economy.
      • Environmental Performance, Indicators and Outlooks
        Understanding past and future environmental trends is essential for setting policy priorities. OECD undertakes outlooks of environmental trends, and works with its countries to develop principles, guidelines and strategies for the effective management of the main environmental problems they face.
  • G8 Information Centre
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  • International Energy Agency (IEA)
    The International Energy Agency (IEA) aims to foster cooperation among participating countries to increase energy security through energy conservation, deployment of alternative energy sources, new energy technology, and research and development.
    • Dealing with Climate Change
      This online searchable database aims to complement the policy analysis carried out by the IEA on climate change mitigation. It is part of a continued effort by the IEA to support decision-makers, policy experts and researchers, as well as to provide practical information to the business community and the broader public.
    • IEA Energy Information Centre
      • Climate Change
        The International Energy Agency has been mandated by its Member countries to provide analytical work on the energy dimension of climate change and the implications of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol on the energy sector. The IEA also undertakes work on options for the future evolution of the international climate change mitigation regime. The IEA participates actively in UNFCCC meetings. The work programme covers areas such as emissions trading, project based mechanisms (CDM/JI), policies and measures, and international technology collaboration. Together with the OECD Environment Directorate, the IEA provides a secretariat for the Annex I Expert Group (AIXG) on the UNFCCC, providing analysis of technical issues of relevance to the development of the Convention.
      • CO2 Emissions
        The IEA produces an annual statistical report on CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion for more than 140 countries and regions.
      • Energy Efficiency
         Energy efficiency refers to the ratio between energy output (services such as light, heat and mobility) and input (primary energy). Improving energy efficiency both by reducing quantities of energy consumed and by changing processes, offers a powerful tool for achieving sustainable development by reducing the need for investment in energy infrastructure,by cutting fuel costs, by increasing competitiveness for businesses and welfare for consumers. It can create environmental benefits through reduced emissions of greenhouse gases and local air pollutants. It can offer social benefits in the form of enhanced energy security (through reduced reliance on fossil fuels, particularly when imported) and enhanced energy services.
      • Sustainable Development
        The manner in which we produce and consume energy is of crucial importance to sustainable development, as energy has deep relationships with each of its three dimensions – the economy, the environment and social welfare. These relationships develop in a fast-moving and complex manner characterised by increasing globalisation, growing market liberalisation and new technologies, as well as by growing concerns about climate change and energy-supply security. In order to make energy an integral part of sustainable development, new policies need to be developed. Such policies must strike a balance among the three dimensions of sustainable development. The IEA helps Member governments to create the conditions in which the energy sectors of their economies can make the fullest possible contribution to sustainable development. The IEA also participates in international meetings on sustainable development
    • Energy Statistics and Energy Balances
      The Energy Statistics Division (ESD) of the IEA collects, processes and publishes data and information on energy production, trade, stocks, transformation, consumption, prices and taxes as well as on greenhouse gas emissions. The geographical coverage of the IEA's statistics includes the 30 OECD Member countries and over 100 non-OECD countries world-wide.
    • Publications and Papers
    • IEA workshops
    • Climate Technology Initiative (CTI)
      The CTI is a multilateral initiative of 23 IEA/OECD countries and the European Commission with the mission to promote the objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Control (UNFCCC) by fostering international cooperation for accelerated development and diffusion of climate friendly technologies and practices for all activities and greenhouse gases.
    • IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme
    • IEA Bioenergy Task 38: Greenhouse Gas Balances of Biomass and Bioenergy Systems
      IEA Bioenergy Task 38 is scheduled to run from Jan. 2001 to Dec. 2003 and takes the role of its predecessor, Task 25.
    • Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDE)
      ETDE, through its member countries, provides an extensive bibliographic database announcing published energy research and technology information. As an IEA Implementing Agreement, ETDE has four objectives regarding topics in energy research and technology. These objectives are to collect and exchange energy research and technology information through the creation and maintenance of a common database; disseminate and promote the energy research and technology information managed by the Exchange; support IEA's strategic priorities and initiatives relevant to energy technology and R&D collaboration; collaborate with other providers of energy research and technology information in order to avoid duplication of efforts.
    • Greenhouse Gas Technology Information Exchange (GREENTIE)
      GREENTIE facilitates free access to detailed information on almost 7,500 suppliers of greenhouse gas mitigating technologies who offer their products and services internationally
    • Centre for the Analysis and Dissemination of Demonstrated Energy technologies (CADDET)
      CADDET is an international information network that helps managers, engineers, architects and researchers find out about renewable energy and energy-saving technologies that have worked in other countries.
    • ECN Policy Studies: Energy Technology Systems Analysis Programme (ETSAP)
      he Energy Technology Systems Analysis Programme (ETSAP) is an Implementing Agreement of the International Energy Agency (IEA), first established in 1976. It functions as a consortium of member country teams and invited teams that actively cooperate to establish, maintain, and expand a consistent multi-country energy /economy /environment analytical capability. Its backbone consists of individual national teams in over 35 countries, and a common, comparable and combinable methodology, mainly based on the MARKAL / TIMES family of models, permitting in-depth national, multi-country, and global energy and environmental analyses.
  • World Energy Council
    Initiated in 1923 as the international association of the electricity industry (the first World Power Conference was held a year later), the WEC has evolved to cover all forms of energy from oil, coal and gas, through uranium to hydro and new renewables such as solar power and wind as well as energy efficiency and energy conservation. The Mission of the World Energy Council (known as the WEC) is to promote the sustainable supply and use of all forms of energy for the greatest benefit of all.
  • International Commission on Large Dams ( ICOLD )
    ICOLD - created in 1928 - groups 82 countries and advances the art and science of water ressources through dams and to develop them in a technically safe, ecologically and socioeconomically sustainable manner.

International humanitarian Organisations

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  • Red Cross / Red Crescent Centre on Climate Change and Disaster Preparedness
    The Climate Centre supports National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to eventually reduce the loss of life and the damage done to the livelihoods of people affected by the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events. The Climate Centre is based in the Netherlands but serves the whole Red Cross / Red Crescent Movement, in particular in developing countries.

» Non Governmental Organisations (NGO)

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  • Climate Action Network (CAN)
  • WWF Global Network
  • Greenpeace International
  • Friends of the Earth
  • Earth Council
    The Earth Council is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) created in 1992 as a direct result of the Earth Summit. Our mission is to support and empower people in building a more secure, equitable and sustainable future.
  • German NGO Forum on Environment & Development
  • IGC Econet
  • Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)
  • Worldwatch Institute Home Page
    Worldwatch is dedicated to fostering the evolution of an environmentally sustainable society, one in which human needs
    are met in ways that do not threaten the health of the natural environment or the prospects of future generations
  • European Business Council for a Sustainable Energy Future
  • Global Commons Institute (GCI)
    The Global Commons Institute (GCI) is an independent group of people whose aim is the protection of the Global Commons. GCI has focused most of its efforts since 1996 on its Contraction and Convergence campaign. GCI was founded in 1990 after the Second World Climate Conference, and has been an participant within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN FCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) processes.
  • International Project for Sustainable Energy Paths (IPSEP)
    The International Project for Sustainable Energy Paths (IPSEP) is a private research organization that investigates innovative "no regrets" strategies that could mitigate this threat of global climate change. IPSEP's research focuses on energy and development policies that can reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuel use while saving money, boosting jobs and economic output, and improving the prospects of poorer and richer nations alike.
  • The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI)
    ICLEI is the international environmental agency for local governments. ICLEI was established in 1990 through a partnership of the United Nations Environment Programme, the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA), and the Center for Innovative Diplomacy. ICLEI maintains a formal association with IULA. ICLEI's World Secretariat is in Toronto, Canada. ICLEI also has offices in Freiburg, Germany, Tokyo, Japan, Harare, Zimbabwe, and soon in Latin America.
  • Natural Resources Defense Council
    NRDC is a national nonprofit organization with 185,000 members that is dedicated to protecting the world's natural resources and ensuring a safe and healthy environment for all. In courtrooms, legislative chambers, regulatory agencies and the public arena, NRDC defends the environment from pollution, exploitation and destruction. From acid rain to global warming...ozone depletion to deforestation...energy efficiency to habitat preservation...NRDC's scientists and attorneys have been working since 1970 to solve the critical environmental issues of our times.
  • GLOBE
    GLOBE is an international organization of legislators from the European Union, Japan, the Russian Federation and the United States. GLOBE was founded in 1989 to enhance international cooperation between parliamentarians on global environmental issues.
  • International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)
    As an independent non-profit and non-governmental organisation, ICTSD engages a broad range of actors in ongoing dialogue about trade and sustainable development. With a wide network of governmental, non-governmental and inter-governmental partners, ICTSD plays a unique systemic role as a provider of original, non-partisan reporting and facilitation services at the intersection of international trade and sustainable development.
  • The European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT)
  • The Business Roundtable (BRT)
  • World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
    The WBCSD is a coalition of 122 international companies united by a shared commitment to the environment and to the principles of economic growth and sustainable development. Its members are drawn from 34 countries and more than 20 major industrial sectors. The WBCSD also benefits from a thriving global network of national and regional business councils and partner organizations.
  • Global Climate Coalition (GCC)
  • The Science & Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
    The Science & Environmental Policy Project was founded in 1990 by atmospheric physicist S. Fred Singer on the premise that sound, credible science must form the basis for health and environmental decisions that affect millions of people and cost tens of billions of dollars every year. Over the years, SEPP's authoritative critiques of UN documents used to shore up the Climate Treaty negotiated at the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit have been widely quoted. (Text from the original web-site)

» Industry

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» International Scientific Institutions

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  • International Council for Science (ICSU)
    ICSU is a non-governmental organization, founded in 1931 to bring together natural scientists in international scientific endeavour. It comprises 95 multidisciplinary National Scientific Members (scientific research councils or science academies) and 25 international, single-discipline Scientific Unions to provide a wide spectrum of scientific expertise enabling members to address major international, interdisciplinary issues which none could handle alone.
  • International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
    ICES is the organisation that coordinates and promotes marine research in the North Atlantic. This includes adjacent seas such as the Baltic Sea and North Sea.
  • International Society of Biometeorology (ISB)
    The International Society of Biometeorology (ISB) was founded 1956 in Paris. The motivation of the foundation of ISB was to bring together scientists working in the field of Biometeorology, who are interested in environmental and ecological problems. The purpose of ISB today is to provide one international organization for the promotion of interdisciplinary collaboration of meteorologists, physicians, physicists, biologists, climatologists, ecologists and other scientists and to promote the development of Biometeorology.
  • International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
  • International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)

» International scientific programmes

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  • World Climate Research Programme (WCRP)
    The purpose of the WCRP, which is jointly supported by the World Meterological Organization (WMO), the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, is to develop the fundamental scientific understanding of the climate system and climate processes that is needed to determine to which extent climate can be predicted and the extent of man's influence on climate.
  • The Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme
    MAB is an interdisciplinary programme of research and training intended to develop the basis, within the natural and the social sciences, for the rational use and conservation of the resources of the biosphere, and forthe improvement of the global relationship between people and the environment.
  • International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP)
    The IHDP was initiated in 1990 as the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Programme (HDP) by the International Social Science Council (ISSC). It is the social science parallel to the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) that focus on biogeochemical processes and climatic processes that induce global environmental change. Since February 1996, it is also co-sponsored by International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU)
  • International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP)
    The International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) is an interdisciplinary scientific activity established and sponsored by the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). The Programme was instituted by ICSU in 1986, and the IGBP Secretariat was established at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1987.