Liberia Climate Change Negotiations

The Global Climate Negotiations Process

The climate negotiation process occurring through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its related agreements is the primary forum for international cooperation on stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would prevent catastrophic anthropogenic interference with the climate system. The Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC, adopted in 1997 and entered into force in 2005, imposes emissions reduction and limitation obligations on industrialized country Parties. The Paris Agreement to the UNFCCC, which was adopted in 2015 and rapidly entered into force in 2016, commits all states to take climate action on the basis of equity and to keep global temperature increase below 1.5°C.

The UNFCCC negotiation process is focused on long-term cooperative action to address climate change. This shared vision requires ambitious mitigation and adaptation action coupled with enhanced financial support to make it possible. Human rights are affected by both climate change itself and actions to combat it, making them vital to address within the UNFCCC. The Paris Agreement explicitly recognized that the existing human rights obligations of Parties to the Paris Agreement should be fully respected, promoted, and considered in all climate change-related activities.

Why Liberia Matters in Climate Negotiations

Liberia is among the countries most profoundly affected by climate change, despite contributing only a tiny fraction of global greenhouse-gas emissions. According to its latest submission under the Paris Agreement, Liberia’s total GHG emissions are extremely small as a share of the global total (roughly 0.03 %) yet its vulnerability is high.

Key reasons Liberia plays a strategic role:

Its coastline (around 580 km) and large share of the population living within 50 km of the coast make it highly vulnerable to sea-level rise, storm surges, flooding and erosion.
It retains substantial forest and mangrove cover — key natural carbon sinks. For example, Liberia is described as the “Third Lung of the World” after the Amazon and Congo basins.
As a low-income country with limited adaptive capacity, it sits at the intersection of climate justice, adaptation finance, and mitigation opportunities — which are central themes in global negotiations.

Thus, when Liberia speaks in global forums (such as the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference or COP series), it carries the voice of countries that are highly vulnerable yet have low emissions — a voice that helps shape the “fairness” and “ambition” dimensions of the global climate regime.