Conference of the Parties (COP)
The COP is the supreme decision-making body that reviews the national communications and emission inventories submitted by Parties (member States & countries) along with other legal instruments that the COP adopts to take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the Convention.
The COP meets every year, unless the Parties decide otherwise. The first COP meeting was held in Berlin, Germany in March, 1995. Since then, the countries bound by UNFCCC have met every year except 2020 to discuss climate change mitigation measures and produce strategic action plans including Kyoto Protocol 1997 and Paris 2015 amongst others. As many as 200 world leaders participated in the 26th edition of COP held in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021. COP26 witnessed the zeal of nations towards climate action and support as many countries set targets of net-zero emissions including India’s pledge to achieve net-zero by 2070. The two weeks of tense talks also resulted in several important decisions in the collective effort to keep the 1.5C warming limit within reach.
The Glasgow Climate Pact consists of a range of agreed items, including strengthened efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, build resilience to climate change, and provide the necessary finance for both. One of the key focus areas at COP26 was to make Paris Agreement operational through completion of the Paris Agreement rule book.
The Paris Agreement 2015 was adopted at COP21, aiming to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, preferably to 1.5, compared to pre-industrial levels. It gave impetus to net-zero commitments and COP26 further accelerated the momentum. Article 6 of the Paris Agreement was a primary focus of COP26. The Article 6 rules give countries the tools they need for environmental integrity, to avoid double-counting through corresponding adjustment mechanism, and to ensure that private capital flows to developing countries.
Nations agreed to form an action plan to reduce the gap between existing emission reduction plans and an ideal plan to reduce emissions. They also reaffirmed their pledge to provide 100 billion dollars annually from developed to developing nations. COP26 also saw a significant move by UNFCCC as it was for the first time that nations were called upon to cut down inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels and unabated coal power.
The Paris Agreement Rulebook
The Katowice climate package agreed at COP24 laid down the details that are needed to make the Paris Agreement operational. To ensure its implementation at the national level now was the priority at COP26.
The Katowice outcome contained operational guidance on:
- The information about domestic mitigation and other climate goals that governments will list down in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
- The rules for the functioning of the Transparency Framework, so that the world can see what countries are doing about climate change
- Ways to communicate about efforts to adapt to climate impacts
- Formation of a committee to ensure implementation of the Paris Agreement