Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change

The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the supreme decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Convention is an agreement or a way by which things are done. The UNFCCC is held annually.

About COP

At COP, all the parties that are part of the UNFCCC review the implementation of the convention. They take new decisions that are required to promote the implementation of the convention. The key task of COP is to review emission inventories submitted by the parties.

Presidency of COP

The presidency of COP rotates among five UN regions. The five regions are as follows:

• Asia
• Africa
• Latin America and the Caribbean
• Western Europe
• Eastern and Central Europe

Who forms the COP?

The countries that ratified the UNFCCC are called the COP. The UNFCCC came into force in 1994. As of November 2021, it was ratified by 197 countries. The UNFCCC is a multilateral treaty. It governs the actions combating climate change. It takes adaptive efforts to control global warming and emission of green house gases.

Does UNFCCC set legal limits?

No. The targets set at UNFCCC COP is not legally binding. It sets framework of limiting the emissions of greenhouse gases.

Categories of COP

The major categories of the parties are Annex I, Annex II, Annex B, Least Developed Countries and Non-Annex I. There are 43 countries in Annex I and they are developed countries. Of these 43 countries, 24 countries come under Annex II. The Annex II countries are expected to provide technical and financial support to the developing countries. There are 47 countries under the category of Least Developed Countries. These countries are given special status under the UNFCCC. This is mainly because of their limitations in adapting to the impacts of climate change. The Annex I countries that have signed the first and second round of Kyoto protocol come under the Annex B category. The Non-Annex I countries are low-income developing countries

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted during the third session of UNFCCC. It applies to six greenhouse gases. They are methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, perfluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride. The Kyoto protocol was adopted in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan. Around 84 countries signed the protocol. Countries such as Canada, South Sudan, USA and Andorra are not parties of Kyoto Protocol.

Paris Agreement

This is one of the key agreements of UNFCCC COP. It was singed at the COP21 in 2005. Under the agreement, the parties agreed to keep the global temperature rise to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius as compared to the pre-industrial revolution levels. Later, this was increased to 2 degrees Celsius.