Science

What Are the COPs and How Do They Work?

UNFCCC (UN Climate Change)
UNFCCC (UN Climate Change)•May 15, 2026

Why It Matters

COPs produce the only global, legally‑binding climate agreements, shaping markets, policy and investment that determine the pace of the transition to a low‑carbon economy.

Key Takeaways

  • •COPs are the UN’s top decision‑making body on climate policy.
  • •Annual conferences gather governments, businesses, NGOs, and scientists worldwide.
  • •Negotiations require consensus across 100+ agenda items, from mitigation to finance.
  • •Historic outcomes include the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.
  • •Agreements drive jobs, clean energy, health benefits, and resilient economies.

Summary

The video explains that COPs—Conference of the Parties—are the supreme decision‑making body of the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, convening each year to steer global climate policy.

Delegates include national governments, business leaders, NGOs, scientists, youth and journalists. Negotiations span over 100 agenda items—ranging from mitigation and adaptation to finance, technology and gender—requiring consensus through contact groups, informal consultations and all‑night sessions.

A vivid analogy likens the process to a group chat trying to pick a restaurant, underscoring the difficulty of aligning diverse priorities. The video cites landmark outcomes such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, which set emissions targets and mobilize climate finance.

These accords translate into tangible benefits: new jobs, cleaner air, improved health and affordable clean energy, while building resilient economies and communities. The COP framework thus remains essential for coordinated, accelerated climate action worldwide.

Original Description

This video explains the basics of the #COPs: the annual UN climate conferences where countries come together to negotiate global action on #ClimateChange.
From reducing emissions to supporting vulnerable communities, COPs play a key role in shaping international climate agreements like the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.
The UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change) is the United Nations entity tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change. UNFCCC stands for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Convention has near universal membership (197 Parties) and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep the global average temperature rise this century as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The UNFCCC is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The ultimate objective of all three agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development.
# # #UNClimateChange

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