The UNFCCC is a “Rio Convention”, one of three adopted at the “Rio Earth Summit” in 1992. Its sister Rio Conventions are the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification. The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994. Today, it has near-universal membership. The 197 countries that have ratified the Convention are called Parties to the Convention. The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which commits its Parties by setting internationally binding emission reduction targets.
Under the Protocol, countries must meet their targets primarily through national measures. However, the Protocol also offers them an additional means to meet their targets by way of three market-based mechanisms.
The Kyoto mechanisms are:
(For more details please check: https://unfccc.int/)
Verra develops and manages standards that help countries, the private sector and civil society achieve their sustainable development and climate action goals. Verra was founded in 2005 by environmental and business leaders who saw the need for greater quality assurance in voluntary carbon markets. Veerra now serves as a secretariat for the various standards we develop and programs we manage, as well as an incubator of new ideas that can generate meaningful environmental and social value at scale. Currently, Verra manages the following:
(For more details please check: http://verra.org/)
This is a standard and certification body that stands for the best that can be achieved in climate and development projects. Established in 2003 by WWF and other international NGOs, as a best practice standard to ensure projects that reduced carbon emissions under the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) also delivered on the dual mandate to foster sustainable development.
(For more details please check: https://www.goldstandard.org)