The "COP" stands for the "Conference of the Parties.”

The COP stands for the "Conference of the Parties.” It is the supreme decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), opened for signature in 1992 during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and later entered into force in 1994.

Our planet’s ecosystem is threatened. Several scientific studies prove it. The natural mechanisms that sustain the earth’s climate, and thus all living species, are in disorder. The world is experiencing unprecedented global warming according to various studies conducted over the past 25 years, notably by the IPCC.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The IPCC is recognized as a body of scientific support to the Secretariat of the Convention. Since 1990 the group has produced an Assessment Report every 5 years

The Conference of the Parties,

1. Endorses the description of the ecosystem approach and operational guidance contained in sections A and C of the annex to the present decision, recommends the application of the principles contained in section B of the annex, as reflecting the present level of common understanding, and encourages further conceptual elaboration, and practical verification;

2. Calls upon Parties, other Governments, and international organizations to apply, as appropriate, the ecosystem approach, giving consideration to the principles and guidance contained in the annex to the present decision, and to develop practical expressions of the approach for national policies and legislation and for appropriate implementation activities, with adaptation to local, national, and, as appropriate, regional conditions, in particular in the context of activities developed within the thematic areas of the Convention;

3. Invites Parties, other Governments and relevant bodies to identify case-studies and implement pilot projects, and to organize, as appropriate, regional, national and local workshops, and consultations aiming to enhance awareness, share experiences, including through the clearing-house mechanism, and strengthen regional, national and local capacities on the ecosystem approach;

4. Requests the Executive Secretary to collect, analyse and compare the case-studies referred to in paragraph 3 above, and prepare a synthesis of case-studies and lessons learned for presentation to the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice prior to the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties;

Why it is important:

•  It provides means to assess the gains made in one area against losses which may accrue in other.

•  It promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way.

•  The many components of biodiversity control the stores and flows of energy, water and nutrients within ecosystems and provide resistance to major disturbances.

•  Benefits that flow from the array of functions given by biodiversity at the ecosystem level provide a basis of environmental security and sustainability.

•  Ecosystem processes and functions are complex and variable, and their level of uncertainty is increased by the interaction with social constructs, which need to be better understood.

•  It promotes the use of all available information and participatory decision–making, which seeks winwin outcomes for all stakeholders.