In the early 1990s, the Rio Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro, the largest world event devoted to environmental issues up till that date. As a result of this conference, participating countries signed an international agreement – the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – in order to jointly face the challenge of global warming.

In 1997, governments agreed to incorporate a new and more specific treaty, known as the Kyoto Protocol, with a commitment to reduce CO₂ emissions by 5% over 1990 levels during the period 2008-2012. The treaty entered force in 2002 and expired in 2012.

Following a series of preparatory meetings and preliminary agreements over the past two years, COP15 took place with a central objective of setting climate change and energy policies for the coming decade.