Past Summits
The Kyoto period: the search for binding targets
The first fifteen years were a period in which the climate regime was established and efforts continued to impose numerical reduction obligations on industrialised countries. The Kyoto Protocol was the product of this period, whilst Copenhagen was where its limitations became apparent.
| COP | Year | City / Country | What happened? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1995 | Berlin Germany |
First Conference of the Parties. It was determined that existing national commitments were insufficient, and a negotiation process was launched to establish binding targets under the ‘Berlin Mandate’. It was decided that the Convention’s secretariat would be based in Bonn. |
| 2 | 1996 | Geneva Switzerland |
The findings of the IPCC’s Second Assessment Report were adopted; a call was made for legally binding medium-term targets. |
| 3 | 1997 | Kyoto Japan |
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted. The first legally binding emissions reduction agreement in climate history: it imposed numerical obligations on industrialised countries for the period 2008–2012. Flexibility mechanisms such as emissions trading, joint implementation and the clean development mechanism originated here. |
| 4 | 1998 | Buenos Aires Argentina |
The ‘Buenos Aires Action Plan’, which envisaged finalising the implementation details of the Kyoto Protocol within two years, was adopted. |
| 5 | 1999 | Bonn Germany |
A largely technical interim meeting; draft decisions regarding the review of implementation were discussed. |
| 6 | 2000 | The Hague Netherlands |
Negotiations collapsed. The US and the European Union failed to reach agreement on the scope of carbon sinks and flexibility mechanisms; the conference was suspended without a decision being reached. The most obvious failure in the history of the COP. |
| 6–2 | 2001 | Bonn Germany |
The negotiations, which had been left unresolved in The Hague, resumed. Despite the US’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement was reached on flexibility mechanisms, sinks and compliance procedures. |
| 7 | 2001 | Marrakech Morocco |
The Marrakesh Accords finalised the implementation rules for the Kyoto Protocol and paved the way for its ratification process. A turning point for Türkiye: at this conference, Türkiye’s special circumstances were recognised; the country was removed from the Annex II list and retained in Annex I with a status distinct from that of other Annex I countries. The obstacle to Türkiye’s accession to the Convention was thus removed. |
| 8 | 2002 | New Delhi India |
The Delhi Ministerial Declaration was adopted; adaptation and the right to development featured prominently on the agenda. |
| 9 | 2003 | Milan Italy |
An agreement was reached on the use of the Adaptation Fund to enhance climate resilience in developing countries. |
| 10 | 2004 | Buenos Aires Argentina |
The Buenos Aires Programme of Work on adaptation and response measures was adopted. That same year, Türkiye acceded to the Convention as the 189th Party, on 24 May 2004. |
| 11 | 2005 | Montreal Canada |
The first conference following the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol. The first meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (CMP1) was held and the Montreal Action Plan for the post-2012 period was adopted. |
| 12 | 2006 | Nairobi Kenya |
A five-year adaptation work programme was adopted; the procedures for the Clean Development Mechanism were improved. Africa’s agenda took centre stage to this extent for the first time. |
| 13 | 2007 | Bali Indonesia |
The Bali Roadmap. A two-year negotiation process aimed at reaching a comprehensive agreement for the period after 2012 was launched. The target was Copenhagen. |
| 14 | 2008 | Poznan Poland |
Agreement was reached on the principles of climate finance; mechanisms to prevent deforestation were approved. |
| 15 | 2009 | Copenhagen Denmark |
The COP with the highest expectations and the lowest outcome. Instead of a binding agreement, the outcome was only a political accord of which the Parties merely ‘took note’. The text referred to $30 billion in fast-start finance for 2010–2012. The disappointment of Copenhagen changed the approach to negotiations for the following six years. Türkiye acceded to the Kyoto Protocol that same year. |
The road to Paris
Following Copenhagen, the approach changed: rather than imposing targets from above, a framework was sought in which each country would declare its own target.
| COP | Year | City / Country | What happened? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 2010 | Cancún Mexico |
An institutional achievement emerged from the ruins of Copenhagen: the Green Climate Fund was established and the 2 °C limit was recognised for the first time in an official COP decision. |
| 17 | 2011 | Durban South Africa |
The Durban Platform: it was decided that a new legal text covering all countries would be negotiated by 2015. The timetable for the Paris Agreement was established here. |
| 18 | 2012 | Doha Qatar |
The second commitment period (2013–2020) of the Kyoto Protocol was adopted under the Doha Amendment. The protocol’s impact was limited due to low levels of participation. |
| 19 | 2013 | Warsaw Poland |
The Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage was established: marking the first time that the unavoidable impacts of climate change were recognised as a separate issue. The Warsaw REDD+ framework to combat deforestation was also adopted here. |
| 20 | 2014 | Lima Peru |
It was determined in what format countries would submit their pre-Paris intended national contributions. The groundwork for Paris was laid here. |
| 21 | 2015 | Paris France |
The Paris Agreement was adopted. Following twenty years of negotiations, a climate regime covering almost the entire world was established: to keep the temperature rise well below 2 °C and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 °C. The approach has changed — rather than imposing targets from above, each country submits its own Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and raises it every five years. |
| 22 | 2016 | Marrakech Morocco |
The first conference following the Paris Agreement’s entry into force, which took place sooner than expected. The agenda shifted to implementation, water scarcity and low-carbon energy. |
| 23 | 2017 | Bonn Germany (chaired by Fiji) |
The first COP chaired by an island nation; Fiji hosted the conference in Bonn for technical reasons. The Powering Past Coal Alliance, which aims to phase out coal, was established here. |
| 24 | 2018 | Katowice Poland |
The Paris Rulebook was finalised: decisions were made on how countries would report their targets, how these would be measured and how they would be verified. A technical milestone that made the Agreement operational. |
| 25 | 2019 | Madrid Spain (under the Chilean presidency) |
No agreement was reached on Article 6, which regulates carbon markets; the conference was generally regarded as having been of low productivity. |
| — | 2020 | Did not take place | COP26 was postponed by one year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This was the only year since 1995 in which a COP was not held. |
Implementation period
After Paris, the question changed: it is no longer ‘shall we agree?’, but ‘how will we keep our promises and who will provide the funding?’
| COP | Year | City / Country | What happened? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 2021 | Glasgow United Kingdom |
The Glasgow Climate Pact was adopted; the 1.5 °C target effectively became the main benchmark. Article 6, which had been deadlocked for six years, was resolved, establishing the framework for international carbon markets. For the first time, the term ‘phase-down’ was included in a COP text in relation to coal. Türkiye ratified the Paris Agreement immediately prior to the summit and became a party to it on 10 November 2021. |
| 27 | 2022 | Sharm El-Sheikh Egypt |
The Loss and Damage Fund was established. This was the fulfilment of a thirty-year-old demand: a separate fund to provide direct financial support to the countries most severely affected by climate change, yet those least responsible for it. Progress under the ‘mitigation’ heading, however, remained limited. |
| 28 | 2023 | Dubai United Arab Emirates |
The first Global Stocktake was completed, and it was officially confirmed that countries’ collective efforts are insufficient to limit global warming to 1.5 °C. For the first time in the thirty-year history of the COP, the phrase ‘transitioning away from fossil fuels’ appeared in an outcome text. |
| 29 | 2024 | Baku Azerbaijan |
It was dubbed the ‘Finance COP’. A new collective quantitative target for climate finance was set; developing countries objected to the text, deeming the figure insufficient. |
| 30 | 2025 | Belém Brazil |
A COP convened at the gateway to the Amazon. The final text was adopted under the name ‘Global Mutirão’ – a Portuguese term meaning ‘collective effort’ – calling for a threefold increase in adaptation funding by 2035, a new mechanism for a just transition, and 59 adaptation indicators. The roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels was excluded from the official text due to resistance from producer countries and referred to a voluntary initiative by the presidency. The hosting of COP31 was awarded to Türkiye at this summit. |
| 31 | 2026 | Antalya Türkiye |
9–20 November 2026, ANFAŞ Antalya Expo Center. Türkiye is the host and lead on the Action Agenda; Australia will chair the negotiations. A preparatory meeting ahead of the summit will take place in Fiji, whilst a leaders’ meeting will be held in Tuvalu. Expected attendance: 197 parties, approximately 100,000 people. |
Three lessons from the past thirty-one years
1. The framework comes before the target
Kyoto imposed obligations from the top down and left the largest sources of emissions outside the system. Paris established a framework in which everyone declared their own targets and achieved almost universal participation. This tension between inclusivity and binding commitments is the central axis of COP history.
2. Failures, too, give rise to institutions
The collapse of The Hague led to the Marrakesh Accords; the disappointment of Copenhagen gave rise to the Green Climate Fund and the Paris architecture. COPs often lay the groundwork for the next COP.
3. The agenda has shifted from mitigation to finance and justice
The first fifteen years were dominated by the debate over ‘who will reduce emissions by how much’. Since Warsaw, the main conflicts have centred on the issues of finance, loss and damage, and just transition. COP31 will convene right in the midst of this debate.
For a more detailed look at the institutional development of the COP and the narrative of each period, please see the History page; for the COP31 agenda, please see the Antalya 2026 page.
