The United Nations conferences on climate from the beginning to the present

For most of the history the composition of earth's atmosphere has been unchanging. However, in the middle of 19th century this pattern changed following the industrial revolution and the use on large scale of fossil fuels, mostly coal.

As science and politics became aware of this problem, the United Nations multilateral diplomacy made efforts to reach agreements aimed at reducing the level of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions created by human activities and having adverse effects on earth's climate.

Unfortunately, a global agreement to act is not the same thing as its timely and full implementation and much more must be done by the States parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to reach the goals that could spare the mankind from the tangible and fast impact of global warming.

Leonardo Baroncelli brings with him more than four decades of international activities with the Italian Foreign Service and some governmental and non-governmental organization. Through its diplomatic career he held senior posts as Consul General in Chicago and Shanghai, First Political Counselor at the Italian Permanent Mission at the UN in New York, Alternate Director General of the Central European Initiative and Ambassador to Democratic Republic of Congo from 2006 to 2010.

After retirement, he entered the academic field and lectured on peace process in Africa and climate diplomacy at several learning institutions in Italy and abroad.

In 2017 he was elected as Vice President of Naturefriends International (NFI), which is one of the ten most important European environmental associations and active worldwide in the advocacy of protection of nature and climate justice. He is presently member of the NFI Steering Committee which provides seed money to projects in Africa aimed at supporting forestation schemes, use of renewable energies and sustainable development.