About the UN Conference
of the Parties
The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the annual convention on climate change where Parties to the UNFCCC meet to negotiate international climate policy. COP by default is held in Bonn, Germany, but is usually hosted by the COP Presidency, which oversees negotiations and sets the tone of the conference. The COP Presidency rotates each year between the five official UN regions (Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Europe).
COP invites civil society participants, which are broken down into various observer constituencies. The most notable constituencies include environmental NGOs (ENGO), Indigenous peoples (IPO), research institutions (RINGO), the women and gender constituency (WGC), and youth NGOs (YOUNGO). With as many as 30,000 participants at COP, the conference is home to countless side events, panels, protests, and other high level meetings, making it the premier event for climate action globally.
Impact of COP on Climate Change
The Conference of Parties is critical to combating climate change on a global scale as it is the only venue where governments and world leaders convene to find ways to reduce emissions and respond effectively to the climate crisis. Although COP has been heavily criticized for its ineffectiveness, it remains the hub around which global climate action revolves. The most notable moment in COP’s history was the signing of the Paris Agreement at COP21 in 2015, which saw nearly every country commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions with intent to increase those commitments over time. Since 2015, the COPs have focused on working out the details of the Agreement to ensure its efficacy and equitability. For observers, COP serves as a stomping ground for organizations and individuals to share their work, advocate, conduct research, and network with other actors across the climate space.
Care About Climate at COP
Since 2015, Care About Climate has sent a delegation to COP both to advocate for the organization’s programming and influence international climate policy. Historically, CAC has featured a diverse delegation, composed of individuals from various countries both in the Global North and South. In recent years, CAC has placed special emphasis on sending delegates familiar with the organization’s work so that CAC can increase its engagement and influence amongst other actors on the global stage.
Last year’s COP25 in Madrid featured CAC’s most active delegation to date. In addition to having two delegates serve on the leadership of COY15, CAC’s delegates participated in the USCAN Round Table Discussion with the US Congressional delegation, various side events and panels on youth and gender, climate justice, and education, and hosted a two-day exhibit on the Sign4Change campaign, which elevated the stories of individuals impacted by climate change from across the world.