---
title: "UNFCCC, CBD, CITES, Ramsar & Montreal Pacts Guide"
description: "Reference the five major environmental conventions, UNFCCC, CBD, CITES, Ramsar and Montreal, covering their protocols, India's status and exam-relevant facts."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/lessons/upsc-environment-ecology-international-conventions-unfccc-cbd-cites-ramsar-montreal"
---

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International conventions: UNFCCC, CBD, CITES, Ramsar, Montreal

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# International conventions: UNFCCC, CBD, CITES, Ramsar, Montreal

A consolidated reference to the five major environmental conventions—UNFCCC, CBD, CITES, Ramsar, Montreal—their protocols, India's status, and exam-relevant facts.

## The Architecture of Global Environmental Governance

Five multilateral conventions form the backbone of international environmental law, and UPSC tests them as a cluster because their structures rhyme: a framework convention sets principles, while binding protocols supply enforceable obligations.

## UNFCCC (1992)

The **United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change** was opened for signature at the Rio Earth Summit (UNCED), June 1992, and entered into force 21 March 1994. It enshrines the principle of **Common But Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC)** and divides parties into Annex I (industrialised), Annex II (OECD funders), and non-Annex I (developing, including India). Its supreme body is the Conference of the Parties (COP), first held in Berlin in 1995.

Two protocols flow from it. The **Kyoto Protocol** (adopted 1997, in force 2005) imposed binding emission-reduction targets only on Annex I parties for 2008–2012 and created three flexibility mechanisms: the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Joint Implementation, and Emissions Trading. The Doha Amendment (2012) set a second commitment period to 2020. The **Paris Agreement** (adopted 12 December 2015, COP21; in force 4 November 2016) replaced the top-down model with bottom-up Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), a goal of holding warming well below 2°C and pursuing 1.5°C, a global stocktake every five years (first concluded at COP28 Dubai, 2023), and the Glasgow Climate Pact (COP26, 2021) which first named coal 'phase-down'.

## CBD (1992)

The **Convention on Biological Diversity** also opened at Rio (in force 29 December 1993) with three objectives: conservation, sustainable use, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources. The United States has signed but not ratified it. Two protocols matter: the **Cartagena Protocol** (2000, in force 2003) on biosafety governing living modified organisms, and the **Nagoya Protocol** (2010, in force 2014) on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS)—India implements it through the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. The **Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework** (CBD COP15, December 2022) set the 30x30 target—30% of land and sea protected by 2030.

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