For short, COP31 – or the UN Climate Change Conference – will be held from 9 to 20 November this year in Antalya, Türkiye.

Here’s what you need to know.

What is a COP?

A COP, or Conference of the Parties, is the supreme decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It brings together all countries (“Parties”) that have signed onto the Convention to review progress, negotiate agreements, and take decisions that advance global climate action.

The acronym ‘COP’ is a UN legal term used for any treaty body composed of “parties” to that treaty (there are several different COPs across the UN system and its conventions, including the Centre for Biological Diversity COP, which produced the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework),

While several UN treaties have ‘Conferences of the Parties,’ the term ‘COP’ is most commonly understood as the annual UN Climate Change Conference under the UNFCCC.

The COP has become synonymous with international climate action and includes milestones like the Paris Agreement (COP21) and other important initiatives such as the Kyoto Protocol – both of which had significant private sector support.

How often and where are COPs held?

COP meetings are held annually and the COP Presidency rotates among the five recognised UN regional groups (Africa; Asia; Latin America and the Caribbean; Central and Eastern Europe; and Western Europe and Others), with Australia and Türkiye falling into the Western Europe and Others group.

COPs are typically held in November each year in the host city, with mid-year meetings held in Bonn at the UNFCCC headquarters between the annual conferences.

At each COP, governments assess how effectively the world is addressing climate change—reviewing emissions data, national commitments, and the implementation of previous decisions.

The Marrakech Partnership, launched during COP22 in 2016 and under the leadership of the Climate High-Level Champions, supports the implementation of the Paris Agreement (adopted at COP21) by enabling collaboration between governments and non-Party stakeholders such as cities, regions, businesses, investors, and civil society including youth, Indigenous Peoples and local communities to act on climate change. The MPGCA’s mission is to strengthen collaboration between actors to lower emissions and increase resilience against climate impacts, promoting higher ambition to collectively strive for the 1.5 °C temperature goal and a climate-neutral and resilient world.

There is a clear mandate for private sector engagement in COPs through both the Marrakech Partnership and through collaboration with the UN Global Compact’s network of UN agencies such as the UNFCCC.

While each COP is different, there are three logistical components to each COP.

1. Negotiations: The first are the formal negotiations, where global initiatives like the Paris Agreement (COP21) were established. Multilateralism is key to productive outcomes, and despite geopolitical tensions, the parties that came to COP were very engaged in discussions.
2. Blue Zone: The Blue Zone is the larger restricted area that houses negotiations but also functions much like a large conference. It houses pavilions where conference activities such as speaker panels and side events, high-level discussions, and other conference events take place.
3. Green Zone: This area is open to the general public. It can be conceptualised as more of the trade and exhibit area of a conference, which also extends the conference-type activities that occur within the blue zone.

• Presidency – Türkiye 
• Presidency for negotiations – Australia 
• Action Agenda – negotiated between Australia and Türkiye 
• Pre-Cop in the Pacific – a Pacific Resilience Fund pledging event 
• COP31

Podcasts 

• Interview with COP31 President for Negotiations, The Hon Chris Bowen MP “It’s 9,058 Miles To Antalya, We’ve Got A Fraught Negotiation Agenda, Half A COP Presidency, Multilateralism Is On The Ropes, And We’re Wearing Sunglasses.” “Hit it.”

Public sector 

• UNFCCC
• COP 30 | UNFCCC
• Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water | Australia will be President of Negotiations for COP31 
• Australia’s participation at COP30 – DCCEEW