International Environmental Issues and Treaties Vocabulary

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards detailing environmental summits, international treaties, regulatory frameworks, climate organizations, and environmental phenomena.

Stockholm Summit (UNCHE)

The first major international environmental summit held in 1972 in Stockholm, Sweden, which adopted the Stockholm Declaration containing 26 principles and established the slogan 'Only One Earth'.

UNEP

United Nations Environment Programme, established on December 15, 1972, with headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, serving as the primary global body coordinating environmental protection and climate action.

World Environment Day

An international day established during the 1972 Stockholm Summit to be observed annually on June 5, first celebrated globally in 1974.

Earth Summit (UNCED)

A major UN environmental conference held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from June 3–14, 1992 under the slogan 'In our hands', producing landmark agreements including Agenda 21, UNFCCC, and CBD.

Agenda 21

A comprehensive global action plan adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit designed to achieve sustainable development in the 21st century.

UNFCCC

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, an environmental treaty adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit with headquarters in Bonn, Germany, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

UNGASS-19 (Rio +5)

The 19th Special Session of the UN General Assembly held on June 23–27, 1997, to review the 5-year progress of Agenda 21 implementation.

WSSD (Rio +10)

World Summit on Sustainable Development held in 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa under the slogan 'People, Planet and Prosperity', which formally linked poverty eradication and social development to environmental protection.

WEHAB Framework

A five-point action framework proposed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at WSSD 2002 focusing on Water, Energy, Health, Agriculture, and Biodiversity.

Rio +20 (UNCSD 2012)

The UN Conference on Sustainable Development held in 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which adopted the political document 'The Future We Want' and introduced the Green Economy framework.

Green Economy

An economic framework that increases human well-being and social equity while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities.

COP (Conference of the Parties)

The supreme decision-making body of the UNFCCC that convenes annually to assess global progress and establish strategies for dealing with climate change.

Green Climate Fund (GCF)

A global climate financing initiative established under the UNFCCC with headquarters in Songdo, South Korea, to support developing nations in adaptation and mitigation.

BCCTF

Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund, created in 2010 by Bangladesh using its own national budget under the Climate Change Trust Act 2010 to address domestic climate risks.

Paris Agreement (COP-21)

A legally binding international climate treaty signed in 2015 aiming to limit global temperature rise to well below $2^\text{o}\text{C}$, preferably to $1.5^\text{o}\text{C}$, above pre-industrial levels.

INDC / NDC

Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (or Nationally Determined Contributions), representing individual country pledges to reduce national greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris Agreement.

Executive Order 14162

An executive order signed on January 20, 2025, by US President Donald Trump initiating the formal withdrawal process of the United States from the Paris Agreement.

Ramsar Convention

An international treaty signed in 1971 focused on the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands and waterfowl habitats.

Vienna Convention

A framework convention adopted in 1985 to promote international cooperation for protecting the stratospheric ozone layer.

Montreal Protocol

A universally ratified international environmental treaty signed on September 16, 1987, aimed at phasing out ozone-depleting substances (ODS) such as CFCs.

Basel Convention

An international treaty adopted in 1989 regulating and controlling the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal.

CBD

Convention on Biological Diversity, a multilateral treaty adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit dedicated to preserving biodiversity, sustainable resource use, and fair benefit sharing.

Cartagena Protocol

A supplementary biosafety agreement to the CBD adopted in 2000 that governs the safe transfer, handling, and use of Living Modified Organisms (LMOs).

Nagoya Protocol

A supplementary agreement to the CBD adopted in 2010 focused on Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) of genetic resources.

The Ocean Foundation (TOF)

An international non-profit ocean conservation organization founded by Wilcott Henry in 2002/2003, headquartered in Washington, D.C., USA.

Blue Carbon

Carbon captured and stored naturally by ocean and coastal ecosystems such as mangrove forests, seagrass beds, and tidal marshes.

Ocean Acidification

The reduction in ocean pH caused by seawater absorbing anthropogenic atmospheric $\text{CO}_2$, which damages marine ecosystems and coral reefs.

Global Plastic Treaty

A legally binding international agreement negotiated under UNEP with the slogan 'End Plastic Pollution', aiming to eliminate plastic pollution by 2040.

Kyoto Protocol

An international protocol under UNFCCC adopted in 1997 at COP-3 that established mandatory greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for developed countries.

Carbon Credit

A tradeable permit or certificate giving the holder the legal right to emit one metric ton of carbon dioxide or equivalent greenhouse gas.

IPCC

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, established in 1988 by UNEP and WMO with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, to assess climate change science.

Dirty Dozen

The initial group of 12 hazardous persistent organic pollutants (POPs) banned for production and use under the 2001 Stockholm Convention.

ENSO

El Niño-Southern Oscillation, a climate cycle in the tropical Pacific Ocean involving periodic shifts between warm (El Niño) and cool (La Niña) ocean surface temperatures.

El Niño

The warm phase of ENSO characterized by sea surface warming above average by at least $0.5^\text{o}\text{C}$ in the equatorial Pacific, leading to drought in South/Southeast Asia and rainfall in Peru.

La Niña

The cool phase of ENSO where Pacific ocean temperatures fall below average by at least $0.5^\text{o}\text{C}$, triggering heavy rainfall, monsoons, and flooding in South Asia.

IUCN

International Union for Conservation of Nature, established in 1948 with headquarters in Gland, Switzerland, focused on nature conservation and sustainable resource management.

WMO

World Meteorological Organization, established in 1950 with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, serving as the UN specialized agency for meteorology and climate.

GEF

Global Environment Facility, an international financial institution founded in 1991 with headquarters in Washington, D.C., USA, serving 183 member states.

V20 (Vulnerable Twenty Group)

An international cooperation group formed in 2015 to promote financial and climate resilience among countries highly vulnerable to climate change.

AOSIS

Alliance of Small Island States, an ad hoc negotiating body formed in 1990 in New York, USA, advocating for small island developing states on environmental policy.

CVF

Climate Vulnerable Forum, an international organization founded in 2009 for climate-vulnerable nations, headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Greenpeace

An independent global environmental campaigning organization founded in 1971 with headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Brundtland Commission

The UN World Commission on Environment and Development chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland, which released the 1987 report 'Our Common Future' defining sustainable development.

Kigali Amendment

A 2016 amendment to the Montreal Protocol targeting an 80% reduction in hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by 2047 to prevent up to $0.5^\text{o}\text{C}$ of global temperature increase.

EU Green Deal

A policy initiative presented on January 20, 2020, aiming to make the European Union climate-neutral by 2050.