Climate Change Information Sheet 20
The Conference of the Parties (COP)
- The Conference of the Parties is the "supreme body" of the Climate Change Convention. The vast majority of the world's states are members - around 165 as of end1996. The Convention enters into force for a state 90 days after that state ratifies it. The COP held its first session in 1995 and will continue to meet annually unless decided otherwise. (The various subsidiary bodies that advise and support the COP meet more frequently.)
- The COP must promote and review the Convention's implementation. The Convention states that the COP must periodically examine the obligations of the Parties and the institutional arrangements under the Convention. It should do this in light of the Convention's objective, the experience gained in its implementation, and the current state of scientific knowledge.
- Progress is reviewed largely through the exchange of information. The COP assesses information about policies and emissions that the Parties share with each other through their "national communications". It also promotes and guides the development and periodic refinement of comparable methodologies, which are needed for quantifying net greenhouse-gas emissions and evaluating the effectiveness of measures to limit them. Based on the information available, the COP assesses the Parties' efforts to meet their treaty commitments and adopts and publishes regular reports on the Convention's implementation.
- Mobilizing financial resources is vital for helping developing countries carry out their obligations. They need support so that they can submit their national communications, adapt to the adverse effects of climate change, and obtain environmentally sound technologies. The COP therefore oversees the provision of new and additional resources by developed countries.
- The COP is also responsible for keeping the entire process on track. In addition to the two subsidiary bodies established under the Convention - the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) - the COP can establish new ones to help it with its work, as it did at its first session (see below). The COP reviews reports from these bodies and guides them. It must also agree and adopt, by consensus, rules of procedure and financial rules for itself and the subsidiary bodies (as of 1996 the rules of procedures had not been adopted and, with the exception of the rule on voting, are being "applied").
- The Conference of the Parties held its first session (known as COP1) in Berlin. From 28 March7 April 1995, the historic city of Berlin was the site of the first global climate change meeting attended by ministers since the 1992 Rio "Earth Summit". Delegates from 118 Parties, 53 observer States, and hundreds of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the press were present.
- COP1 adopted the "Berlin Mandate" launching talks on new commitments. The Convention required COP1 to review whether the commitments of developed countries to take measures aimed at returning their emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000 were adequate for meeting the Convention's objective. The Parties agreed that new commitments were indeed needed for the post2000 period. A new subsidiary body, the Ad hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate (AGBM), was established to draft "a protocol or another legal instrument" for adoption at COP3 in 1997. The Berlin Mandate process is to consider all greenhouse gases. It is also to consider setting quantified objectives for limiting and reducing emissions within specified time-frames such as 2005, 2010, and 2020. It is not to introduce any new commitments for developing countries.
- Other decisions completed the main elements of this process-oriented Convention. The review process started with a compilation and synthesis of the 15 first national communications submitted by developed countries; the Parties decided that their second submissions should be due by 15 April 1997 and that there should also be a series of in-depth reviews. They also decided that the interim secretariat would become the "permanent secretariat" on 1 January 1996 and would be located in Bonn, Germany (the actual move occurred in August 1996). It was agreed that the secretariat would be operationally independent but that it would be linked to the UN and its head would be appointed by the UN Secretary-General in consultation with the Parties. Finally, a fourth subsidiary body, the Ad hoc Group on Article 13 (AG13), was established to explore various options for conflict resolution.
- The interim financial arrangements were extended for up to four years. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) will therefore continue to operate the Convention's "financial mechanism". As required by the Convention, COP1 also gave guidance to the GEF on policies, programme priorities, and eligibility criteria. It stated that projects funded by the GEF should be cost-effective, supportive of national development priorities, and focused on "enabling activities" that would assist developing countries to implement the Convention.
- A pilot phase was launched for "activities implemented jointly" (AIJ). During the treaty negotiations, the term "joint implementation" had generated considerable controversy. Based on the new concept of AIJ, COP1 agreed that any country can participate in the pilot phase if it so chooses; during this phase the investing country could not claim credit for reduced emissions in the recipient country; a system of regular reporting will monitor the activities; and the pilot phase will be reviewed no later than the end of 1999.
- The second session of the COP was held from 8-19 July 1996. COP2 took stock of progress on the Berlin Mandate, the review process for national communications, and other issues. Over 900 government delegates - including some 80 ministers - and 600 observers participated in the two-week meeting.
- Ministers stressed the need to accelerate talks on how to strengthen the Climate Change Convention. In their Geneva Declaration the ministers also endorsed the 1995 Second Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) "as currently the most comprehensive and authoritative assessment of the science of climate change, its impacts and response options now available". They further stated that the Report "should provide a scientific basis for urgently strengthening action at the global, regional and national levels, particularly action by Annex I (industrialized) countries to limit and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases".
- COP2 also adopted a number of formal decisions and conclusions. One of the most important was an agreement on the contents of the first national communications that developing countries will start submitting in April 1997. Other decisions concerned technology transfer, financial support for Convention-related activities in developing countries, and the pilot programme for AIJ.
- The third session of the Conference of the Parties will be held from 112 December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan. In addition to adopting the results of the Berlin Mandate process, this meeting will consider funding, technology transfer, the review of information, and the many other issues that together constitute the international response to the threat of climate change.
The Convention - Info for Participants - Info for Media - Official Documents
Daily Programme - Special Events - Exhibits - List of Participants - Special Features
Kyoto Information - COP3 Links - COP3 Home Page - UNFCCC Home Page - Feedback - Sitemap