Every year, global leaders meet to discuss and negotiate the direction of international climate policy at the Conference of the Parties, known as the COP, an event held under the purview of the United Nations (UN) that, in 2025, will come to 30th edition, and will be held in Brazil, in Belém (PA).
Climate change is already a reality impacting the lives of millions of people around the world with floods, heat waves, fires, and hurricanes. That is why the challenge is global and the COP is so important: it plays a relevant role in creating international agreements and goals with the objective of Combating global warming and the effects of the climate emergency.
Below, you will find explanations about the COP and discover:
- What is the COP
- When and why was the COP created
- Who is participating in the COP
- What is discussed at the COP
- What are the roles of companies and governments in the COP
- What are the expectations for COP30 in Brazil
- What does the COP have to do with our lives
- What COP decisions have influenced changes
What is the COP?
Known as COPs, the Conferences of the Parties are the main international meeting on climate change.
The meetings are organized annually (with the exception of 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UNFCCC, the arm of the UN to discuss global warming.
World leaders, scientists, activists, press, international organizations, and private companies participate in the event that discusses action plans to address climate change.
When and why was the COP created?
In 1992, during the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was created, a UN body dedicated to establishing agreements, treaties, and commitments related to combating climate change. From then on, it was decided that the COPs would be held every year to analyze the progress of such commitments and negotiate global climate strategies.
The first COP was held in 1995 in Berlin, Germany. Since then, the meetings have taken place in different cities in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. In 2025, COP-30 will be held in Belém, the capital of Pará.
Who is participating in the COP?
The COP's main objective is to bring together UNFCCC signatories, known as the “parties”, which are basically the 196 countries that joined the Convention; the European Union, which participates as a block that goes beyond European countries; and the Holy See, the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church.
The event is divided into two weeks. In the first, heads of state and world leaders are expected to speak and attend ceremonies. The following week, delegates from each country, such as ministers, diplomats, and experts, take over the meetings to negotiate the main points of each COP.
In addition to formal delegations, there are observers. These people can watch the negotiations - a condition that gives more transparency to the process as a whole - but they have no right to vote. Members of NGOs, community groups, academics, and indigenous leaders are some of the profiles that can participate as observers. Other UN agencies also participate in the discussions, such as the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the World Bank, and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Another important segment in the COPs is that of companies and representatives of the private sector. Large corporations, which have the potential to have a significant impact on the transformation of the economy, usually participate in events and show the advances in their production processes. Companies involved in renewable energy generation, clean technologies and sustainable industries are present to show possible solutions to face the climate crisis.
At side events, these groups can present reports, analyses, and proposals as a way to stimulate debate about the impacts of climate change on different sectors of society. Finally, the COP is also marked by the presence of journalists from different countries, who cover the event.
What is discussed at the COP?
In general, the main topic of the COPs is the state of global warming, the impacts of climate change on the planet, and what measures need to be taken to address the climate crisis.
Due to the complexity of the discussions, which involve diverse interests from nearly 200 countries, each meeting ends up having a specific theme as the highlight of the year, but various topics, such as water security, renewable energy, climate justice, and others, are discussed at official meetings and parallel events.
In each edition, countries are expected to show the progress achieved in meeting their goals, that global standards will be defined so that they are all aligned with the same objectives, and that the monitoring of the contributions defined in the Paris Agreement, the main international climate treaty established in 2015 during COP21, in Paris, will be discussed. In the Paris Agreement, one of the main objectives is to limit global warming to 1.5ºC and to prevent the temperature from exceeding 2ºC.
In addition, representatives of nations discuss how to finance measures for the transition of economies to low-carbon economies, how to promote the necessary adaptations so that populations are less affected by climate change, and how to establish an end to the use of fossil fuels, such as gasoline and diesel.
What are the roles of companies and governments in the COP?
Since 2015, when the Paris Agreement was created, the governments that signed the treaty have committed themselves to presenting a Nationally Determined Contribution, known as the NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution, in English). The NDCs show each nation's goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, present policies and measures to implement adaptation to climate change, and provide information on how to promote social inclusion and transform society's economy.
As the acronym suggests, this information is determined by the governments themselves - every five years, countries need to update their proposals. As part of the Paris Agreement, each update is expected to be more ambitious than the previous one, always with the objective of limiting global warming to 1.5ºC. Based on this, the role of governments in the COPs is, mainly, to participate in negotiations and reach multilateral agreements to guarantee the success of the Paris Agreement, in addition to making commitments that demonstrate the increase in climate ambition.
At the same time, companies also play an essential role in the advancement of international climate policy. This is because, while governments and diplomacy bring public policies, the private sector can show results in practice. “Companies have the potential to test solutions and to change course with agility when it doesn't work out. It's no use having public policy on paper that isn't developed and isn't put into practice. The private sector is important for change to happen more quickly,” says Janaína Dallan, president of Aliança Brasil NBS.
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What are the expectations for COP30 in Belém, Brazil?
In 2025, COP30 will be held in Belém, the capital of Pará, Brazil. As its headquarters are located in the capital of the Amazon biome, the Brazilian government is expected to demonstrate the potential to play a leading role in the international climate agenda. The main theme of COP30 is still being defined, but one of the possibilities is to direct the focus of the discussions to adaptation to extreme events.
According to First Letter from the President of COP30, Brazilian ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, there will be a call for a global mobilization to combat the climate crisis. “If global warming is not controlled, change will be imposed on us, disrupting our societies, economies, and families. If, instead, we choose to organize ourselves in a collective action, we will have the possibility of rewriting a different future,” wrote the president of COP30.
How does the COP relate to our lives?
At the same time that the COP is a diplomatic event that takes place between government representatives, the decisions taken in the negotiating rooms reverberate in society as a whole and may affect issues such as the use of fossil fuels and investment in renewable energy. “The decisions taken in these spaces can have an impact from the price of products to the creation of new laws,” explains Janaina Dallan, from Aliança Brasi NBS.
The discussions that take place at the climate conference can also influence consumer behavior, who start to charge governments and companies more, requiring that products be committed to some environmental and climate attitude.
What previous COP decisions have changed the way companies and governments deal with climate?
The climate conferences end with a document that formalizes the commitments made during the negotiations. In addition to the official text, parallel treaties and agreements may be announced by countries and companies.
The main result ever obtained at a COP is the Paris Agreement, established in 2015 during COP21 in Paris. With the goal of keeping the planet's warming at 1.5ºC and not exceeding 2ºC, the treaty is the guide for governments and companies to develop actions that are compatible with these objectives.
Another example comes from COP26, held in 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland, when the global agreement for the reduction of methane was announced - of which Brazil is a part. The main objective of this agreement is to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030, a challenge that mainly involves the agricultural sector.
Suzano is committed to several climate-related actions. Learn more on the Weather page.
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