Every year world leaders gather to create a global response to the climate emergency. Each country on the planet is obligated under the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)  to “avoid dangerous climate change” and find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally in an equitable manner. COP stands for Conference of the Parties, and the summit was attended by the countries signatory to the UNFCCC – a treaty that came into force in 1994. COP is the International Convention’s supreme treaty signed between international actors. It is made up of representatives from the convention’s member states as well as accredited observers. The COP’s mandate is to review the “implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts, and to take any necessary decisions to promote the effective implementation of the Convention ”.

For three decades, the United Nations has brought all countries together for global climate summits known as COPs. Climate change has progressed from a minor concern to a global concern with time. The review of national communications and emission inventories submitted by Parties is a critical task for the COP.

The COP evaluates the effects of the measures taken by Parties and the progress made toward the ultimate goal of the Convention based on this information.The COP Presidency rotates among the five recognised United Nation Regions, namely Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Others, and the venue of the COP tends to shift among these groups as well. According to the COP Rules of Procedure, regular sessions of the Conference of the Parties (COP) are held every two years. The COP decides on the dates and location of its next regular session at each regular session.

Parties to the Convention, United Nations international organisations, , and media,as defined under Article 7, paragraph 6 of the Convention, may attend summits. . It brings together the 197 nations and territories that have signed on to the Framework Convention as Parties. The COP conference is very important, as it is the ultimate decision-making body related to global climate change . At  these forums, parties review progress made by members of the UNFCCC in achieving the ultimate objectives of the Convention. At the COP summit, world leaders collaborate on climate change solutions. The review of national communications and emission inventories submitted by Parties is a critical task for the COP. It evaluates the effects of the measures taken by Parties and the progress made toward the ultimate goal of the Convention based on this information. The COP is the decision-making body in charge of monitoring and reviewing the implementation of the UNFCCC. Until now 27 COPs have been held and the most recent summit was hosted by Egypt.

COP3

It was held in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, widely known for the Kyoto Protocol.  There, developed countries agreed to specific targets for cutting their greenhouse emissions . A general framework was defined for this, with specifics to be detailed over the next few years.

COP4

The Fourth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) was held from November 2 – 13,  1998 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was attended by over 5,000 participants. It concluded with the approval of a two-year Plan of Action to reduce the risks of climate change. The Plan of Action served to speed up work derived from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

COP5

Regardless of the fact that COP-5 was a technical meeting, delegates left Bonn with a mandate to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol. While these concepts were not novel, according to a press conference held by the US Delegation in Bonn, they were given a “boost.”

COP6 

Part I of COP 6 was held in The Hague, Netherlands. Negotiations broke down, and the parties agreed to reconvene. COP 6 Part II was held in Bonn, Germany, in 2000. The so-called Bonn Agreements were reached in agreement. Except for the United States, all countries agreed on the mechanisms for implementing the Kyoto Protocol. The United States only served as an observer.

COP7

In 2001, COP 7 was held in Marrakesh, Morocco. The Marrakesh Accords were adopted as the detailed rules for implementing the Kyoto Protocol. The Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) was created to “finance projects relating to adaptation; technology transfer and capacity building; energy transportation, industry, agriculture, forestry, and waste management; and economic diversification.” The Least Developed Countries Fund was also created to “support a work programme to assist Least Developed Country Parties (LDCs) in carrying out, among other things, the preparation and implementation of national adaptation plans of action (NAPAs).”

COP8

In 2002, COP 8 was held in Delhi, India. The Delhi Ministerial Declaration was adopted, which called for developed countries to transfer technology to developing countries, among other things.

COP9

In 2003, COP 9 was held in Milan, Italy. New emissions reporting guidelines were adopted based on IPCC recommendations. The Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) were expanded.

COP10

COP 10 was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2004. Parties began discussing adaptation options. The parties “addressed and adopted numerous decisions and conclusions on issues relating to development and transfer of technologies; land use, land use change and forestry; the UNFCCC’s financial mechanism; [developed countries’] national communications; capacity building; adaptation and response measures; and UNFCCC Article 6 (education, training and public awareness) examining the issues of adaptation and mitigation, the needs of least developed countries (LDCs), and future strategies to address climate change.”

COP11

The 2005 COP11 was held in Montreal, Canada. This was the first conference held after the Kyoto Protocol went into effect. The annual meeting of the parties (COP) was supplemented by the first annual meeting of the Kyoto Protocol Parties (CMP). Countries that had ratified the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change but had not accepted the Kyoto Protocol had observer status at the latter conference. The parties discussed “capacity building, technology development and transfer, the adverse effects of climate change on developing and least developed countries, and several financial and budget-related issues, including Global Environment Facility guidelines” (GEF).

COP12

In 2006, COP 12 was held in Nairobi, Kenya. Financial mechanisms were reviewed, and decisions regarding the Special Climate Change Fund were made.

COP13

COP 13 was held in Bali in 2007. Parties to the Conference of the Parties agreed on a Bali Action Plan to negotiate GHG mitigation actions after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. The Bali Action Plan did not require developing countries to set binding GHG targets.

COP14

COP 14 was held in Poznan, Poland, in 2008. Negotiations on a financing mechanism to assist poor countries in adapting to the effects of climate change have begun. The Kyoto Protocol’s successor was still being negotiated.

COP15

Copenhagen, Denmark, hosted COP 15. It failed to reach an agreement on binding commitments after the commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. During the summit’s final hours, leaders from the United States, Brazil, China, Indonesia, India, and South Africa agreed to the Copenhagen Accord, which recognised the need to limit global temperature rise to 2°C based on climate change science. While the agreement did not require legally binding commitments, countries were asked to pledge voluntary GHG reduction targets. Climate aid to developing countries has been pledged at $100 billion.

COP16

In 2010, COP 16 was held in Cancun, Mexico. Parties formally adopted key tenets of the Copenhagen Accord, such as limiting global warming to 2°C, protecting vulnerable forests, and establishing a framework for a Green Climate Fund, which will provide funds to developing countries for mitigation and adaptation actions.

COP17

COP 17 was hosted in Durban, South Africa in 2011. Parties agreed to the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action which is a framework to establish a new international emissions reduction protocol. Under the Durban Platform, the details of the new protocol are to be finalized by 2015 and it will come into force in 2020. The European Union also agreed to extend their Kyoto Protocol targets, which were slated to expire at the end of 2012, into a second commitment period from 2013-2017. Russia, Japan and Canada did not commit to new targets.

COP18

It was held in Doha, Qatar in 2012. Parties agreed to extend the expiring Kyoto Protocol, creating a second commitment phase that would begin on January 1, 2013 and end December 31, 2020. This is considered as a bridge to the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, agreed upon in 2011, and set to come into force in 2020. Parties failed to set a pathway to provide $100 billion per year by 2020 for developing countries to finance climate change adaptation, as agreed upon at COP 15 in Copenhagen. The concept of “loss and damage” was introduced as developed countries pledged to help developing countries and small island nations pay for the losses and damages from climate change that they are already experiencing.

COP19

COP 19 was held in Warsaw, Poland. Parties were expected to create a roadmap for the 2015 COP in Paris where a legally binding treaty to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is expected to be finalized (in order to come into effect in 2020).

COP20

COP 20 was hosted by the Government of Peru in Lima, Peru, in 2014. Its primary focus area Climate change is already affecting food security and the livelihoods of the most vulnerable. Overcoming climate change is key to food security and sustainable development.

COP21

COP 21 was hosted by Paris in 2015. The COP 21, or Paris Climate Conference, resulted in a new international climate agreement that applies to all countries and aims to keep global warming between 1.5°C and 2°C, as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

COP22

The Marrakech Climate Change Conference will convene from 7-18 November 2016, in Marrakech, Morocco.The purpose of the conference was to deliberate on the plans to combat climate change and implement those plans.

COP23

COP 23 took place from 6-17 November in Bonn, Germany. The focus of COP23 was on the development of guidelines on how the Paris agreement’s provisions will be implemented across a wide range of issues, including transparency, adaptation, emission reductions, provision of finance, capacity-building, and technology. The aim was to make progress in all these areas so that the guidelines could be completed by the time the next COP summit took place in Poland next year.

COP24

At COP24 in Katowice, Poland, the main aim was to bring together experts and influencers leading the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals around the world for a series of high-level discussions on the interlinkages between climate change and the 2030 Agenda.

COP25

COP25 adopted a decision that relaunches the work of the Warsaw Mechanism on Loss and Damage (WIM), and creates new spaces to advance knowledge of the processes of loss and damage associated with climate change, and how to deal with them.

 

COP26

The purpose of COP26 was to take the next critical steps in the UN climate change process. Its goals were to achieve global net zero emissions by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach, to adapt to protect communities and natural habitats, to mobilise finance, and to collaborate to deliver. It seeks to bring countries together in order to reach an agreement on a comprehensive, ambitious, and balanced outcome that advances coordinated climate action and resolves key issues related to the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement.

COP27

The conference took place from 6-20 November 2022 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. At the Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Change Conference (COP 27), countries came together to take action towards achieving the world’s collective climate goals as agreed under the Paris Agreement and the Convention.