The United Nations Climate Change Conferences, held almost every year since 1995, are known as COP (Conference of the Parties). Their purpose is to review, through negotiation and debate, the progress made by members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in slowing climate change.
COP membership consists of 197 countries that are signatories to the UNFCCC. At the annual meetings they assess progress and set collective goals to limit climate change. New agreements and treaties are often reached at COP, aiming to strengthen targets, establish guidelines, or create legally binding commitments such as the Kyoto Protocol, a landmark 1997 international treaty under the UNFCCC that legally bound developed nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary stated: “Ultimately the critical focus is achieving the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees. And that requires extraordinary action.”
The participating countries are organised into five regional groups, which typically alternate hosting future COP meetings and the COP presidency. These groups are also represented on the UNFCCC Bureau, which serves as the COP President’s advisory body.
Government representatives and “observer” organisations, including charities, attend the conferences, all under the oversight of the United Nations. The next Conference of the Parties (COP 31) will take place in Antalya, Turkey in November 2026.
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