Conference of the Parties
The governing meeting of parties to an international convention.
Example
UN climate conferences include meetings of bodies under the climate convention, Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement.
The catch
Different meeting bodies can adopt different kinds of decisions.
Related terms
Paris Agreement, 1.5°C goal, Carbon pricing, Carbon tax, Climate justice, CSRD
In more depth
Conference of the Parties, explained.
A Conference of the Parties takes most decisions by consensus, since parties to the UNFCCC never adopted formal voting rules, so a few determined objectors can stall an outcome. Climate COPs meet each year, with the presidency rotating among UN regional groups. Their decisions shape how the Paris Agreement works in practice, including the global stocktake, the periodic review of collective progress.
Each country sets its own nationally determined contribution. The treaty obliges countries to prepare, communicate and maintain these plans, but the targets inside them are not enforceable in the same way. Specify which convention you mean, since the biodiversity treaty holds its own COPs.