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COP Resource Hub

Welcome to the SDSN’s COP Resource Hub

The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s (SDSN) COP Resource Hub is your trusted guide for navigating and preparing for the Conference of the Parties (COPs). Designed to empower stakeholders across all sectors, this Hub offers essential guidance, tools, and resources to help the SDSN Community effectively engage in COP meetings, learn about the key issues at hand, and drive meaningful climate action.

Explore the Hub

What is COP?

Action on Climate

The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the supreme governing body of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The UNFCCC COP, or the UN Climate Conference, reviews national commitments and emissions inventories submitted by Member States. It assesses the measures taken to address climate change and evaluates progress toward the Convention's goals, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The COP convenes annually, with its first meeting held in Berlin, Germany in 1995. The venue and Presidency rotate among five recognized UN regions. In 2024, the UNFCCC COP29 was held on November 11-22 in Baku, Azerbaijan, and the COP30 will convene on November 10-21, 2025, in Belém, Brazil — marking the first UN Climate Conference in the Amazon.

Following the outcomes of COP29, the SDSN is driving urgent climate action on the following key issues:

  • Scale-up climate finance: The SDSN is working to identify novel mechanisms and funding sources to support the $1.3 trillion agreed for climate mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.
  • Strengthen national and regional climate action: The SDSN is mobilizing national and regional networks to support ambitious, actionable, and integrated NDCs and their implementation.
  • Conserve and advance sustainable development in tropical forests: The SDSN is advocating for science and evidence-based solutions, engaging Indigenous peoples and local communities for conservation and sustainable development across the tropical forest regions in the Amazon, Congo Basin, and Borneo.
  • Accelerate a just energy transition: The SDSN is advancing the UN Secretary-General’s goal to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by encouraging multinational cooperation.

Action on Nature

In addition to the UNFCCC COP, the COP of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) — an international treaty adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 — is held every two years to assess progress and adopt strategies to conserve biological diversity, ensure its sustainable use, and fairly share the benefits of the use of genetic resources. The first session of the CBD COP16 was held from October 21-November 1, 2024, in Cali, Colombia, and the second session is to take place February 25-27, 2025, in Rome, Italy.

At the heart of the negotiations are questions of finance, specifically on mobilizing $200 billion annually by 2030 to support biodiversity. The COP16 in Colombia assessed national progress on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) targets and the effectiveness of National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs). Parties also adopted a historic Programme of Work on Article 8(j) to ensure Indigenous voices are integral to biodiversity governance.

Action on Land Degradation and Desertification

Lastly, the UNCCD COP is the main decision-making body of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), one of the major UN treaties adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. This COP is a crucial meeting aimed at assessing and adopting global efforts to combat land degradation and desertification and to strengthen resilience. In 2024, the UNCCD COP16 convened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from December 2-13.

The SDSN at COP

The SDSN’s involvement in the UNFCCC COP on Climate Change dates back to COP21 (2015), where SDSN Leadership Council Member Laurence Tubiana championed setting total decarbonization and climate neutrality as one of the lead negotiators of the pact. Since then, the SDSN has hosted discussions on critical technologies and solutions, amplified expert knowledge, mobilized political action, and advanced firm, global commitments.

The SDSN’s participation at COP has taken various forms, including the creation of a Climate Action MOOC (2016), hosting the Low-Emissions Solutions Conference (LESC) (2016-2019), convening the Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition (CEET): An Independent Council of Engineers for the UN Secretary-General (2022-2024), launching the Science Panel for the Amazon Assessment Report (2021), convening universities around the Net Zero on Campus Guide (2023), among others.

In 2024, the SDSN attended and participated in not only the UNFCCC COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, but also the CBD COP16 in Cali, Colombia, and the UNCCD COP16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — all of which convened within just three months. The three COPs presented a rare opportunity for the SDSN to advance more integrated perspectives and leverage action on the common challenges of action, financing, and implementation to simultaneously address global biodiversity loss, climate change, and land degradation in a holistic and coordinated approach.

The SDSN’s 2024 COP Highlights

The SDSN’s 2024 COP Publications

Related Resources

Related SDSN Programs

SDSN Courses & Tools

Related SDSN Publications

SDG Monitoring, Accountability, and Data Innovation

Tropical Forests

Climate & Energy

Food & Land-Use

Related SDSN News

Press Inquiries

Contact our global Communications Team to request an interview with one of our program experts. Subscribe to the SDSN Global Newsletter and follow the SDSN on LinkedIn, X, and Facebook for additional updates on COP and other programmatic activities.

Alyson Marks
Head of Communications & External Relations
[email protected]

Tara Everton
Communications Manager
[email protected]