Climate change is a global phenomenon. We need to cut global greenhouse gas emissions – lowering them in the EU alone is not enough. That’s why the EU strives to promote climate action around the world. The European Union works with non-EU countries bilaterally (one-to-one) and multilaterally (as a group). This section is about multilateral climate action.
UN climate convention
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), agreed in 1992, is the main international treaty on fighting climate change. Its objective is to prevent dangerous man-made interference with the global climate system.
The EU and all its member countries are among the 197 Parties to the Convention.
Conference of the Parties (COP)
The Conference of the Parties (COP) is an annual event during which the world’s countries gather to find solutions to the climate crisis.
The COP is the decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In addition to the Parties to the Convention, representatives of business, international organisations, interest groups and associations can also join the COP as observers.
Via the COP, the EU promotes ambitious climate action.
The EU also take part in the yearly Bonn Climate Change Conference, which lays the groundwork for the COP discussions.
Paris Agreement
At COP21 in 2015 in Paris, all UNFCCC Parties adopted the Paris Agreement: the first ever universal, legally binding global climate agreement. They agreed to limit the global temperature increase from the industrial revolution to 2100 to 2°C while pursuing efforts to limit the increase even further to 1.5°C.
COP28
COP28 will take place in Dubai, UAE from 30 November to 12 December 2023. The EU will strive to keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees within reach, and support efforts to adapt to climate change.
As well as participating in the negotiations, the EU is organising side events which will be accessible both in person and online.
