International Expert Workshop on the Future of the UN Climate Conferences

The Wuppertal Institute and the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) will host an expert workshop under the theme "It's the End of the COP as We Know It". The purpose of the event is to discuss how the nature of the annual meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) may be shaped to make the best use of what has become a global focusing event for climate action.

With the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015 and subsequently the completion of the corresponding rulebook at COP24 in Katowice, the UNFCCC has mostly completed the regime building process. For more than a decade the negotiation of first the Copenhagen Accord and subsequently the Paris Agreement dominated the annual UN climate conferences. While some issues will require ongoing negotiations, the imminent conclusion of the regime building pro-cess represents a critical juncture for multilateral climate governance. Specifically, it opens a new chapter for the UNFCCC and the organisation of its annual COP as the focus shifts from negotiation to implementation. Indeed, the negotiating capacity that is now being freed up should be refocused to faciliating implementation, monitoring progress and, crucially, raising ambition.

The purpose of the workshop is to bring together international experts and researchers to develop and discuss ideas how this re-configuration could best be achieved. The two-day event will be held in Wuppertal on 26 and 27 May 2020. Interested people in joining this timely and challenging debate may submit a proposal. The submission deadline is 20 March 2020. Detailed information on the "Call for Submissions" can be found at the link below.