Every year, tens of thousands of delegates, activists and journalists gather for two weeks of UN climate talks. The headlines often focus on deals, deadlocks and late-night drama. But what actually happens at COP, and how should reporters read the outcomes?
What is COP, and what is it supposed to do?
COP is where countries review global climate progress and negotiate what comes next. COP stands for Conference of the Parties: the annual meeting of countries that have joined the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The convention was adopted in 1992. The first COP met in 1995. Its role is to review progress, negotiate common rules and agree on how countries can work together to address climate change.
The Paris Agreement, adopted at COP21 in 2015, sharpened COP’s focus. As explained in previous blog post, Paris set shared temperature goals and a five-year cycle for national climate plans (NDCs) and global reviews. Paris also gave the annual negotiations a clearer focus on implementation. Countries now negotiate how progress should be measured and reported, how climate action should be supported and how to address gaps between commitments and actual progress. Technically, decisions under the Paris Agreement are made by its governing body, known as the CMA, which meets alongside COP.
Governments lead the negotiations, but they are not the only voices at COP. UN agencies, intergovernmental organizations and observer groups representing businesses, researchers, environmental organizations, Indigenous Peoples and other constituencies also take part. They bring different perspectives and priorities to the negotiations, helping shape discussions even though formal decisions remain with the Parties.
How are decisions made at COP?
COP negotiations cover issues ranging from cutting emissions and adapting to climate impacts to climate finance and loss and damage. The work begins well before the annual summit. Governments submit proposals, while negotiators work through draft texts at meetings throughout the year, including mid-year climate talks in Bonn.
Decisions are generally reached by consensus rather than majority vote. This means no country formally objects to the final text, not necessarily that everyone agrees with every provision. The COP Presidency helps broker compromises, and once consensus is reached, the presiding officer brings down the gavel to formally adopt the decision.
Outcomes can include new rules, financial arrangements or agreements to continue negotiations. Alongside these formal talks, civil society groups, researchers and businesses also organize side events to share knowledge, discuss solutions and launch initiatives. These activities can influence the wider climate agenda, but their announcements are separate from decisions formally adopted by the Parties.
What have the last five COPs delivered?
The past five conferences illustrate how international climate negotiations have evolved, and why their outcomes require interpretation. Taken together, these outcomes reflect advances in international cooperation alongside continuing disagreements over ambition, responsibility and implementation.
COP26, Glasgow (2021): The Glasgow Climate Pact introduced the first explicit COP language calling for the phasedown of unabated coal power and the phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. Countries also completed important elements of the Paris Agreement's implementation rulebook.
COP27, Sharm el-Sheikh (2022): Countries agreed to establish a fund addressing loss and damage in climate-vulnerable developing countries. The decision represented a shift in international recognition of climate-related harm, although financing and operational arrangements required further negotiations.
COP28, Dubai (2023): The first global stocktake concluded with a call to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems. This marked an important political development, but the agreement did not establish a binding timetable for ending fossil fuel use.
COP29, Baku (2024): Negotiations focused on climate finance, producing a goal to mobilise at least $300 billion annually for developing countries by 2035, led by developed countries, alongside a broader ambition to scale financing to $1.3 trillion annually.
COP30, Belém (2025): Countries called for efforts to triple adaptation finance by 2035, adopted indicators for measuring adaptation progress and agreed to develop a just-transition mechanism. However, a proposed roadmap for transitioning away from fossil fuels was excluded from the final negotiated agreement.
What to watch at COP31 in November 2026
The ambition gap: how far 2035 targets fall short of 1.5°C, and which major emitters have yet to submit or strengthen their NDCs.
Transparency: what the first Biennial Transparency Reports and their reviews reveal about actual progress.
Finance: progress on the new climate finance goal agreed at COP29 and whether pledges turn into delivery.
Fossil fuels: whether countries revive the transition roadmap left out of the Belém deal.
