Summary The average temperature worldwide is steadily increasing.

The reason for commonly known global warming may be different factors; however, many scientists attribute this to the greenhouse effect. According to UN report, conclusions of the specialists are disappointing: the negative results of warming will be felt almost everywhere. It is important to understand that opposition to global climate change- not just an environmental problem. Measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions and increase their intake had a direct impact on the development of the energy sector, agriculture, forestry and other sectors of the economy, affect international trade in energy resources and technologies. Hence the solution of this problem directly affects the socioeconomic and political interests of the world. Given work aims to report on United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and to identify a company that claims to have reduced its greenhouse gas emissions. Chapter 1 examines the purpose of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change which will be held in Copenhangen, Denmark, 2009. It will also point out main issues to be discussed on the meeting, and main obstacles to coming to a satisfactory agreement. Chapter 2 identifies one company that has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions.

Contents 1. Introduction 2. UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 2.1. The purpose of the meeting to be held in Copenhagen 2.2. Key issues to be discussed 2.3. Main obstacles 2.4. Ways of resolving 3. Royal Mail Groups Green strategy 4. Conclusion 5. Reference list

Introduction Negotiations on the establishment of an international agreement aimed at countering global climate change began in 1990 under UN auspices. The international community has decided to conclude a first framework agreement on basic goals, objectives and principles of joint action, and only then begin the discussion of more specific commitments of individual countries. Thus, at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro adopted the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The parties have met annually since 1995 to assess progress in dealing with climate change. In 1997, after several years of intense negotiations, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted by the Kyoto Protocol, supplementing the Convention in terms of quantitative commitments of industrialized countries and countries with economies in transition to reduce or limit anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. The next meeting will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 7th of December to 18th of December.

2. United Nations Framework Convention on climate Change Article 2 of the Convention states its ultimate objective: "... stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interferenece with the climate system. Such a level should be achieved within a time frame sufficienet to allow ecosystems to adopt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to preceed in a sustainable manner." 2.1 The purpose of the meeting to be held in Copenhagen Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change said in august 2009 that "The agreement on climate change to be concluded in Copenhagen this year an absolute demand to prevent a climate change of control". This meeting will be the culmination of a process that began in 2007 when on the UN Conference on Climate Change in Bali (Indonesia) the governments initiated a two-year process of negotiations towards the establishment of a strong and effective international agreement on climate change, continuing the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol.The aim of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen is conclusion of a legally binding treaty on climate. This agreement, if successfully ratified, will replace the Kyoto treaty and will cover the period after 2012. In the case of successful outcome of negotiation an greement will mark a significant contribution to reducing anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases have a negative impact on our climate system. This agreement will embody the principle of respect for the environment that can be reconciled with a concern about the level of living and long-term reliability of supply. The overall goal for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Denmark is to establish an ambitious global climate agreement for the period from 2012 when the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol expires. It is expected that ministers and officials from 192 countries will take part. In addition, there will be participants from a large number of organizations. The conference is preceded by the Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions scientific conference in March, which was also located in Copenhagen. Under the Convention, governments gather and share information on greenhouse gas emissions, national policies and best practices; launch national strategies for addressing 4

greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to expected impacts, including the provisional and technological support to developing countries; cooperate in preparing for adaptation to the impacts of climate change. 2.2 Key issues to be discussed New York, October 10. Members of the penultimate round of negotiations on a new comprehensive climate change agreement achieved greater clarity the sequence of actions necessary to develop a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. However, as the press center of the UN, issues related to the commitments of industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and funding, remain unresolved. It is planned that the new draft treaty will be ready by December 2009 in order to approve it at the meeting of Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen. On this and the previous week in Bangkok, about 4000 delegates from 177 countries discussed the five basic elements of a future agreement that their leaders endorsed at the recent summit on climate change in New York. These are the issues of adaptation to the impacts of global warming, development of new technologies, funding to combat climate change, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, combating forest degradation in developing countries. Executive Secretary Framework Convention on Climate Change Yvo de Boer, summing up this round of talks, said that only a strong-willed leaders decide will help remove the obstacles to agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increased funding for efforts to combat global warming. He stressed that it is time to give up defending the interests of only their own country and to act in the interests of the whole world. (http://www.baltinfo.ru/news/Proektnovogo-dogovora-ob-izmenenii-klimata-budet-gotov-k-dekabryu---OON-109011) This process consists of two areas of negotiations for the commitment period after 2012. (1) negotiations in the light of the UN Framework Convention Climate Change (UNFCCC), held on the Bali Action Plan, and (2), negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol, which does not include the United States, a major source of greenhouse gases, because the United States not ratified the Protocol. Participating countries agreed that they would complete negotiations on the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen.

"The Bali Action Plan" focuses on four key issues - the weakening of climate change, adaptation, technology and attracting funding. It includes a discussion to develop "shared vision" for longterm cooperative action and long-term global goals for reducing emissions. "The weakening of change" in the context of negotiations on climate change means reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Questions were focused on resolving questions about how much of measures to mitigate climate change should be implemented on a global scale, which countries should take these steps and what the costs would be required to do so. Harmonization of measures which are "measurable, subject to accountability and verifiable" - a key feature of the Bali Action Plan. Discussions on the industrialized countries have focused on the adoption of legally binding commitments to reduce emissions. For developing countries, emphasis was placed on the definition of "feasible for the country plans to mitigate climate change and establishing a registration process and support appropriate actions of these states. The term "adaptation" in the context of international negotiations is to support poor countries adapt to the inevitable effects of climate change caused by greenhouse gases already present in the atmosphere. Nevertheless, it is clear that all countries need to adapt to climate change. Climate change could push the developing countries back into poverty and destroy the achievements made in them so far towards the Millennium Development Goals in the Millennium Declaration. Urgent action is needed to create a comprehensive policy in the context of national and international development priorities. A wide range of issues on which the rules are necessary, including the question of how to provide immediate assistance to vulnerable countries to cope with the impact of changes climate and how to raise the level of commitment in order to adapt received the attention it deserves in the light of scientifically sound urgent. Other questions focused on providing "new and additional" funds (in addition to voluntary donations) needed to support adaptation in developing countries and providing technical and financial assistance for their adaptation. Also there is a discussion on determining the need to strengthen existing organizations established under the Kyoto Protocol, such as the Adaptation Fund, and the feasibility of establishing an internationally funded insurance fund for assistance to vulnerable countries, which will be necessary to cope with the risk of catastrophic climate impacts. The essential aspect of reaching agreement in Copenhagen is to identify ways to create new, additional and predictable financial resources, as well as determining how the deployment and technology transfer in areas where the need for them is greatest. We need a public and private funding, with government funds are particularly important in those sectors where developing countries who depend on public investment and financial flows. Also, expanded and deepened 6

the discussion effectively controlled the global carbon market as a way to allocate significant resources to developing countries. There are many estimates of funds that will be needed in the next decade to support developing countries in their struggle to adapt to the inevitable phenomena caused by climate change and to mitigate these changes. "The total amount of resources needed by the year 2020 could be 250 billion dollars. But start digging a hole right now is more important than to determine the exact size that it will acquire in the future. It is clear that the costs and to adapt, and to reduce climate change will grow over time, and that public money will provide the initial impetus and pave the way for other vehicles. It is important that there are already mechanisms that over time, significantly increase funding of public and private sectors, thus avoiding the need for each year of re-negotiating the financing of climate change in developing countries. 2.3 Main obstacles Some say that the United States with his inflated ego - the biggest obstacle, and pull all back (still have not joined the Kyoto Protocol, as the largest polluter). Others say that the reason that the governments of the other and can not, and intrigue against each other as in trade negotiations in the good old World Trade Organization (now there is no longer so, since the riots in Seattle in 1999, they already know that people need justice). Still others say that governments are the corporate elite of their countries, and therefore tend only to financial gain and economic growth. But some say that the reason - all of the above. The current economic crisis, however, has become a serious obstacle to the fight against global warming, virtually "frozen" funding measures to protect the environment. Thus, the eight poorer countries of the European Union - Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia - argued that "social and economic cost of the plan to reduce emissions is too high."

2.4 Ways of resolving 3. Royal Mail Groups Green strategy In 2006 the Royal Mail Group started its Carbon Management programme. According to this programme RMG plans to reduce its energy consumption through efficiency activities, use alternative fuel and offsetting residual emissions. 7

RMG has already reduced its carbon emissions by over 14%, by improving transportation selection, using double-deck trailers, overhauling mail distribution and securing renewable electricity contract. Royal Mail Group Ltd has a strategy focused on environmentaly friendly business activities. It is divided in five main areas: Ethical supply chain management; Fuel and transportation; Building energy; Waste; and Water. As it is stated in company Corporate Social Responsibility report, RMG manages its carbon footprint throuh partnership with organisations such as The Carbon Trust's Carbon Management Programme and the energy Saving Trust's Transport Charter Programme. RMG aims to increase the use of renewable energy from 10% to 50% by 2010. RMG emphisises the importance of environmentaly friendly business, anad has set six environmental targets as following: 1. a reduction of fuel usage by 14% from current levels by 2010; 2. a reduction energy consumption by 10%; 3. an increase in renewable energy use to 50%; 4. a reduction of containersed solid waste sent to landfill by 25% 5. a reduction of water use by 5% from current leveles. RMG transport operations are sais to be going green. Mail delivery vehicles travel approximately 600 million miles a year and use 153 million litres of diesel. RMG is working on its programme to reduce its transport fleet by implementation of actions such as installation of vehicle telemetry, safety and environmental driver trainings, and communication tools. RMG has also developeed its Carbon Management Programme, according to which about 80% of their environmental impacts are carbon related. This programme is mainly focused on reduction of the energy use, and increase in renewable energy usage. They are working on extension of the automatic metering regime, installation of energy saving technology. RMG owns over 3 000 buildings which use energy and water. As part of the Carbon Management programme, they are working on reduction of water and energy consumption on these sites by communication to people working there. In 2005/06 over 47 000 tonnes of waste were sent to landfill. The waste produced by RMG activities includes vehicle oil and brake fluid from vehicle services, catering and general office waste. RMG is expanding their recycling capabilities. RMG is also taking some steps to reduce water wastage. A team of specialists to investigate water consumption across the company property building was appointed. They are planning to

identify saurces of water leaks within the sites and take actions to mitigate them. By the end of 2015 RMG is planning to recycle all water. We have introduced the Carbon Neutral Door-to-Door scheme, which makes it easier for companies to reduce the carbon footprint of their mailing by giving them advice on the types of paper, inks and varnishes to use as well ensuring effective targeting of the direct mail campaign. After carbon impact has been minimised in line with scheme standards, Royal Mail calculates the remaining CO2 emissions generated by the mail campaign and pays to offset through schemes such as the Woodland Trusts Carbon Plus+, which plants native trees in the UK, Businesses that sign up to the scheme can then print a Royal Mail carbon neutral logo on their mail to demonstrate to their customers they are taking their commitment to the environment seriously. The Royal Mail Group seems to be working on thir environmentaly friendly image, and taking appropriate actions for this. In these purposes company havs developed a strategy on "green" business activities, which incorporates activities of efficient energy and water usage, and reduction on its wastage. Taking into account all have been discussed above it might be concluded, that RMG is taking successful stepes towards its "green" targets.

Conclusion Technological progress entails not only positive but also critical for the environmental consequences. In many places the world has already seen changes in weather conditions. In some regions, more rain falls, while in other regions have experienced higher temperatures. Among the consequences of global warming include: increasing the number of droughts and floods, reduction of the number of ice and snow, increasing the number of extreme weather events, rising sea levels. World soobshestvo decided to take the lead and control the environment. More developed countries undertake to help developing countries in environmental protection. Convention was adopted in which clearly OFAC purpose and tasks facing the countries of the signatory states. Many companies have followed suit and etomu prnimaut active involvement in environmental protection and mitigation. For example RMG adopted "green" strategy and has already taken some actions in accordance with its new strategy. Hopefully, all people will understand an importance of environmentally friendly activities and will take part in saving the world from global warming and climate change.

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Reference list 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

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