What exactly is COP? Here is all you need to know about the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC

The COP28  is set to begin at the end of November. At this time, it becomes extremely important to understand what the COP, an abbreviation for the Conference of the Parties actually is.

What is the COP?

The COP is the chief body responsible for making decisions for the Convention. Since the establishment of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Rip Summit, three decades have passed, and in these three decades, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, abbreviated as the COP has been successful in convening member nations each year in order to determine the responsibilities and aspirations, along with assessing climate measures.

The Paris Agreement was led by the 21st session of the COP. It became instrumental in mobilizing global collective action to limit the increase of the global temperature to 1.5C above the pre-industrial levels by 2100. It also aimed to act in a way to adapt to the existing impacts of climate change.

The Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is actually an international climate summit. It is held on an annual basis unless the countries of the Conference choose otherwise. With COPs, various world leaders join hands to work on solutions targeted at dealing with climate change. At present, there exist a total of 198 Parties (197 nations and the European Union) to the Convention. This accounts for a new universal membership.

A Brief Background

Reviewing the national communications and emissions inventories given by the Parties is an important task for the COP. On the basis of this data, an assessment of the impact of the measures taken by the Parties is done by the COP. The COP reviews the progress reached in achieving the ultimate goals of the Convention.

COP meetings so far

The very first COP meeting was held in the year 1995 in Berlin, Germany. Unless a Party of the Convention offers to host the COP session, it meets in Bonn.

COP 3 was held in Kyoto, Japan with the Kyoto Climate Change Conference in the last month of 1997.

Next came the 4th COP session which was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Conference was the Buenos Aires Climate Change Conference- in November 1998.

The fifth COP session was held in Bonn Germany.

This year, the COP28 session will be held in the United Arab Emirates.