COP Climate Conferences in the Spotlight: What is COP?

COP, or Conference of the Parties, refers to the annual gathering of countries under the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

These conferences aim to generate international agreement on action to combat Climate Change.

Here we’ll explain the key impacts of COP, why it matters and what role it holds to tackle Climate Change.

COP: An International Platform for Collaboration

COP serves as a platform for international negotiations on climate change, where countries discuss and negotiate agreements around Climate Change. These discussions cover mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to climate impacts, and financing climate actions.

These COP meetings are crucial for advancing global climate goals. They provide an opportunity for countries to showcase their progress, share knowledge, and address climate challenges.

Our Climate does not follow international boundaries. Therefore, if Climate Change is to be limited and managed, then global collaboration is essential.

COP Process To Date: Key Points 

COP has an extensive history, beginning in 1995. This was the result of an earlier 1992 UN convention on Climate Change, and over the following 3 decades has achieved increasingly ambitious of action to combat human impact on the Earth’s climate.

Below is a summary of the key outcomes from past major UN climate change conferences (COPs):

COP1 (Berlin, 1995): Established the annual COP meetings to regularly discuss progress on the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. 

COP3 (Kyoto, 1997: Adopted the Kyoto Protocol, the first binding emissions reductions treaty requiring developed countries to cut greenhouse gases.

COP11 (Montreal, 2005): Established the Clean Development Mechanism allowing emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn carbon credits towards Kyoto targets.

COP15 (Copenhagen, 2009): Failed to deliver a hoped-for binding successor agreement to Kyoto, despite massive public interest. But did produce the Copenhagen Accord pledging mitigation action.

COP16 (Cancun, 2010): Created the Green Climate Fund to distribute financing, aimed at supporting projects within developing countries to mitigate and adapt to Climate Change. 

COP21 (Paris, 2015): Successfully adopted the landmark Paris Agreement – the first comprehensive global treaty to cut emissions and address climate impacts in all countries. Goal set to limit global warming to well below 2°C.

COP24 (Katowice, 2018): Adopted a “rulebook” to implement the Paris Agreement objectives, including common reporting standards for emissions and climate finance transfers.

COP26 (Glasgow, 2021): Secured the Glasgow Climate Pact to keep limiting warming to 1.5°C alive. However, ambitions relating to meeting the goals of many nations were considered to be limited and lacking in credibility.

COP28 (Dubai, 2023): Secured an agreement to transition away from fossil fuels, the first such agreement under COP.

Criticism of COP

The COP meetings have slowly built an international framework of treaties, funds, and mechanisms addressing climate change. However, key areas linked to actual progress have been questioned:

Lack of Major New Ambition: Beyond loss and damage, major new pledges to enhance emissions reduction targets have been limited compared to the scale of the challenge.

Reaffirming Key Temperatures: Efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C below pre-industrial levels were reaffirmed in 2022 at COP27. However, disappointingly the text did not strengthened ambition to phase down fossil fuels and cut emissions faster.

Negotiations on Carbon Markets/Credits: Rules for international carbon markets, placing a cost against carbon emissions, are yet to be finalised. Such a market would prove key to ensuring uniform global action.

Practical considerations: COP agreements to date are broadly considered to be short on practical planning. Agreements and obligations are generally placed at a top-line international levels. Unfortunately, this lacks due consideration of social and economic sustainability considerations at a local level.

The Future of COP

Whilst COP agreements to date have marked significant acknowledgement of Climate Change and the challenges it poses, the actions from these conferences lack the urgency.

Scientific data suggests that limiting Climate Change to 1.5oc is necessary, with 2oc the upper limit if we want to avoid major global impacts. However, COP agreements have failed to achieve a global trajectory that aligns to 1.5oc, or even 2oc.

In fact, current projections see us heading for increases well beyond this level under under existing policy and action.

The next COP is due in November 2024 at Baku, Azerbaijan, COP29. Heading into this conference, the urgency to reduce global emissions has only become more urgent. In fact, 2023 was the hottest year ever recorded.

Check back with us in the run up to COP29 for an update on what outcomes to expect.

In the meantime, to learn more about Climate Change itself, or the impacts Climate Change is already having, check out the articles linked.