Official documents are issued under a masthead bearing the UN and UNFCCC logos and with a UNFCCC document symbol. Official pre-session documents are available before the meeting, usually in all six official UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish). Post-session documents, normally the reports of a session, are also available in all six official UN languages. In-session documents are available during meetings ( CRPs, Ls, MISCs). L documents are normally translated. CRPs and MISCs are available only in the original language of issue.

Document symbols include designators for the relevant Convention or Kyoto Protocol body ("CP" for the Conference of the Parties, "KP/CMP" for the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, "SBI" for the Subsidiary Body for Implementation, "SBSTA" for the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice, or "SB" for documents prepared for both subsidiary bodies), and the year in which the document was prepared.  Most documents are subject to GENERAL distribution as shown on the header in the top right-hand corner of the first page.

Regular documents have a serial number following the year. They are translated into all six official languages of the United Nations.

Other types of documents use the following designators (where x denotes a serial number):

/INF.x  denotes an Information document. These documents are not translated and are available in the original language of issue.

/MISC.x  denotes a Miscellaneous document. These documents are not translated and are issued on plain paper with no United Nations masthead. In the UNFCCC process, submissions by Parties are normally issued as miscellaneous documents.

/Add.x  indicates an Addendum (addition of text) to a previously issued document. The other components of the symbol are identical to those of the parent document.

/Rev.x  indicates a Revision (a new text) superseding a previously issued document. A revision replaces the original document, which is then removed from the archives and from the UNFCCC web site.

/Corr.x  denotes a Corrigendum document. It contains a modification of a specific part of an existing document to correct errors, revise wording or reorganize text. The language and the components of the symbol are identical to those of the parent document.

/TP.x  denotes a technical paper.

/L.x  denotes a limited distribution document. These documents usually translated. The distribution in hard copy is limited to those likely to be immediately interested in the work of the body concerned (but these documents are usually also available on the UNFCCC web site).

/CRP.x  denotes a conference room paper. These are in-session documents containing new proposals or outcomes of in-session work, and are intended for use only during the session. The distribution in hard copy is limited to those likely to be immediately interested in the work of the body concerned (but these documents are usually also available on the UNFCCC web site).

Decisions, recommendations and resolutions of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) are contained in the addenda to the COP or CMP reports, respectively. The first parts of these reports contain the reports of the proceedings at the sessions.