The United Nations General Assembly at its 1990 session set up the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on Climate Change (INC/FCCC), which was given a mandate to draft a framework convention and any related legal instruments it considered necessary. Representatives from over 150 States met during five sessions between February 1991 and May 1992 and, finally, adopted the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on 9 May 1992 at UN Headquarters in New York.

Soon after, 155 countries signed the Convention at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, known as the "Earth Summit", which was held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. Since then, the Convention has been signed by other States and ratified by a growing number of countries. The Convention entered into force on 21 March 1994, 90 days after the 50th ratification.

Brazil was the first country to sign the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on 4 June 1992 and the National Congress ratified it on 28 February 1994. The Convention entered into force for Brazil on 29 May 1994, 90 days after its ratification by the National Congress.