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Environment & Climate vocabulary · Environmental Policy and Law

COP

Meaning in environment & climate, with examples

/kɑːp/abbreviationCommon term

In environment & climate, COP means: Short for Conference of the Parties: the yearly UN climate summit where the countries that signed the UN climate convention negotiate and review global climate action.

In Turkish: Taraflar Konferansı, BM İklim Zirvesi

How it is used

Pronounced as one word, like 'cop', and followed by a number: COP21 (Paris, 2015), COP28 (Dubai, 2023). Countries host, attend and negotiate at COP, and the outcomes are called decisions. Other conventions, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, also hold their own COPs.

Example sentences

  1. At COP28, countries agreed on the need to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems.

  2. Our CEO will speak at a side event during COP.

Common collocations

  • attend COP
  • host COP
  • COP negotiations
  • COP decision
  • side event
  • Paris AgreementThe international climate treaty adopted in 2015 under the UN climate convention, in which countries agreed to keep global warming well below 2°C and to try to limit it to 1.5°C.
  • nationally determined contribution (NDC)A country's national climate plan under the Paris Agreement, setting out its targets for cutting emissions and its actions for adapting to climate change.
  • IPCCShort for Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: the UN body that assesses and summarizes the science on climate change, its impacts and possible responses.
  • climate financeMoney from public, private and international sources that pays for reducing emissions and for adapting to the impacts of climate change, especially in developing countries.

More terms: Environmental Policy and Law

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