Conference of the Parties (COP)
What is the COP?
The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the supreme decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP, at which they review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts and take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the Convention, including institutional and administrative arrangements.
More Background on the COP
A key task for the COP is to review the national communications and emission inventories submitted by Parties. Based on this information, the COP assesses the effects of the measures taken by Parties and the progress made in achieving the ultimate objective of the Convention.
The COP meets every year, unless the Parties decide otherwise. The first COP meeting was held in Berlin, Germany in March, 1995. The COP meets in Bonn, the seat of the secretariat, unless a Party offers to host the session. Just as the COP Presidency rotates among the five recognized UN regions – that is, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe and Others – there is a tendency for the venue of the COP to also shift among these groups.
More posts about COP on this website
- Action in the lead up to COP26
- Boris Johnson’s address at the Youth4Climate
- Climate Change Committee says UK must now Walk the Talk
- Conference of the Parties (COP)
- COP26 Youth Summit
- COP27 outcomes
- COP29 – Poorer Countries Deeply Disappointed
- From Paris to COP26: An Invitation to Sign the Paris Climate Agreement
- Mock COP26
- Setting the scene for COP28 – Video
- What is the UN doing about Climate Change?