Climate COP: what is it and what is it for? – 12/25/2023 – Why? Economês in good Portuguese

Finally, we have reached the end of the hottest year ever recorded in history. A year also marked by a succession of events that show that the climate crisis is here now. There was some good news, no doubt, but urgency remains the prevailing tone when it comes to climate.

That said, it is worth dedicating a few minutes in this final stretch of the year to understand a little better the main international coordination mechanism for climate action: the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change — the famous Climate COP. There is also a Biodiversity COP, but that is another event and another subject.

The central objective of the annual COPs is to serve as a forum for articulating, negotiating and defining multilateral climate action. The event brings together world leaders and negotiators from countries that are signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol and/or the Paris Agreement, all international treaties on the climate crisis. Representatives from civil society, academia, the private sector and the media also participate in the COP, but they are not involved in the negotiations.

Since 2015, COPs have revolved around the implementation of the three main goals set out in the Paris Agreement: keeping the increase in the global average temperature, relative to pre-industrial levels, “well below” 2°C and ideally limited to 1, 5°C; promote adaptation and resilience to climate change; and align financial flows with low greenhouse gas emissions trajectories.

There must be consensus between the parties for decisions to be taken at the COP. If it is difficult to reach consensus in discussions on much less complex topics involving a smaller number of interested parties, imagine how difficult it is to negotiate anything at the COP! That’s why I spoke at the beginning of the column about a coordination mechanism, not cooperation. After all, incentives and interests are not always aligned around the world. Do all nations want the climate crisis to be addressed and its adverse effects mitigated? Maybe – at least that’s what everyone claims. But none show much enthusiasm to cover the bill, which adds up both financial resources and the opportunity cost of the necessary changes in practices and habits.

It is no surprise, therefore, that the COP negotiations are progressing at such a slow pace. It gets frustrating, I don’t deny it. But the climate crisis cannot be tackled without multilateral coordination and the COP is precisely the forum that makes this coordination possible, with all the challenges inherent to it.

So we can only wait? Not exactly. The COP is a huge showcase and probably the only time of the year when the overwhelming majority of the global spotlight is on the climate crisis. Although this is fertile ground for often empty promises, it is also a powerful instrument of transparency. Understanding the COP and following its discussions enhances civil society’s ability to hold government authorities accountable and hold them accountable after the excitement of the event has passed.

Clarissa Gandour is a professor at FGV EESP, has a PhD in economics from PUC-Rio and is a specialist in public policies to combat the climate crisis. Her research supports evidence-based climate action.

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