Negotiators in New York finalized the text of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on the 9th of May 1992. The document opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on the 4th of June 1992.
The secretariat operates from offices located on the UN Campus in Bonn, Germany. This location serves as the administrative hub for all international cooperation efforts under the treaty.
Simon Stiell assumed the role of Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on the 15th of August 2022. He succeeded Patricia Espinosa who held office until July 2016 and Christiana Figueres who led from July 2010 to July 2016.
Canada withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2011 to avoid penalties that would transfer wealth out of the country. Critics note this decision was driven by concerns about financial burdens imposed on citizens rather than environmental goals.
The United States announced its intention to withdraw from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in January 2026. This action makes it the only nation to take such a step since the treaty entered into force on the 21st of March 1994.