ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the UNFCCC Secretariat’s activities since the early 1990s, showing how the international bureaucracy transitioned from an earlier scientific and environmental focus to one that addresses energy issues much more directly, given the closely intertwined nature of fossil fuel combustion and global climate change. It shows how the Secretariat transformed itself from an international bureaucracy with little autonomy and a comparatively small size initially, to an increasingly potent “orchestrator” in recent years, guiding negotiators and more self-assuredly pushing the climate convention process forward.
