What COP 20 is really all about

The majority of our time as student observers at the COP20 conference is spent in side events and delegation pavilions watching small scale sessions. These sessions cover various topics such as carbon capture and storage, REDD and private business’ stake in climate change issues. However all these specific topics are not the primary focus of the COP. The core goal the COP seeks to accomplish every year is an impactful one which carries with it implications on a global scale.

The primary focus of the COP is negotiations between UNFCCC countries toward reducing worldwide GHG emissions. Hence the name COP or Conference Of the Parties. Meetings take place between member countries over the course of the conference, during which each party voices their concerns about climate change, their proposed efforts to combat it, and the interests they want to protect when a decision is made.

The history of the COP has produced a few important agreements, the foremost of which being the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted after three years of negotiations in Kyoto, Japan at COP3 in 1997. The protocol was an emissions reduction strategy eventually adopted by 192 countries that carried with it larger reduction targets for developed nations and more lenient targets for developing countries. The emission reduction strategies and targets varied from country to country, however the overall goal was to mitigate climate change by lowering GHG output on a global scale.

The Kyoto protocol has since expired, and wasn’t implemented and followed very closely throughout its 20 year timeline. Since its expiration, efforts have been under way to put in place a legally binding emissions reduction treaty that is applicable and acceptable to all UNFCCC parties. The new agreement is intended to be finalized and signed by Parties in Paris in 2015 at COP21. This year the focus in Lima is to clear the way for an agreement in Paris by having countries declare their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC). INDCs are what each country plans to do at home to work towards solutions to a variety of climate change related issues. These contributions differ from one country to another because each country has unique circumstances. It is hoped that all Parties will present their INDC by early 2015 so that an agreement can be reached at COP21.

The negotiations taking place between Parties at COP20 regarding INDCs will ultimately determine the success of this year’s conference. We have spent most of our time in side events researching climate change and its solutions. These efforts are modest in comparison to the decisions the negotiations at COP seek to turn out. In the second week of the conference the primary negotiations begin to pick up speed so we, and everyone else involved for that matter, are eagerly awaiting to see what this year’s negotiations will produce, and to see if the stage will be set for a monumental decision to be made in Paris in 2015.