Poland to Host Climate Summit 2018

After Poznań (2008) and Warsaw (2013), Katowice will host the annual Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change next December. Since climate policy is a priority in the country, organising the event is “a great honour” for the Polish Government.

The Polish climate policy. The Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) will be held along with the 14^th session of the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP14). The proposal to organise COP24 in Poland was submitted by Polish Minister Jan Szyszko, who emphasized the “priority” that climate policy has in the country: “Our involvement in this area may be exemplified by the implementation of our obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. Poland has reduced its CO2 emissions by 32% compared to the required 6% and, simultaneously, progressed its economic growth.

The Polish Government also said that organising the event “is a great honour for Poland” and said that, during the COP24 conference, it will demonstrate how to neutralise the emission of greenhouse gases using innovative methodologies. The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the supreme body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – UNFCCC. The Convention, signed during the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, aims at climate protection and reducing greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

The COP oversees the implementation of the Convention by the individual States (Parties to the Convention) and establishes new provisions in the form of decisions. The Kyoto Protocol – an agreement establishing the climate protection obligations of developed countries, including specific obligations to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, was signed at the Conference of the Parties in 1997.