From restraint to acceleration: How science took on global governance

Part 2 of a two-part note on how science diplomacy evolved before it had a name and why that history matters now.

The first Conference of Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was held at Berlin in 1995. (UNFCCC)

When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was established in 1988, it did more than launch a study. It shifted power from negotiation to those who define the terms of negotiation itself.

The groundwork had been lai…