Conference of the Parties (COP) Guide 2025

When is the next COP?

COP30 is scheduled for November 2025 in Belém, Brazil, from 10 to 21 November 2025.

It will be the first COP to be hosted in the Amazon, a region on the frontlines of deforestation driven by industrial animal agriculture.

Following the disappointing outcomes of COP29 in Baku, which failed to address the climate impact of factory farming, COP30 carries the weight of expectation to deliver meaningful climate justice and food system reform for animals, people, and the planet.

Our recent report, Subsidising Factory Farm Harm, exposes how governments continue to use public funds to support industrial animal production — a major driver of deforestation, emissions, and animal suffering.

COP30

COP30 must mark a turning point.

The Amazon, home to millions of species and Indigenous communities, continues to be devastated to grow feed crops and raise cattle for industrial meat production.

This summit in Belém, Brazil, offers a historic opportunity to place animals, people, and ecosystems at the heart of climate action.

At World Animal Protection, we’re calling on governments and agribusiness leaders to ensure that food system transformation becomes a core part of climate negotiations.

Explore resources and media contacts during COP30

Visit our COP30 Communications Hub on Emplifi to access assets, media contacts, and updates about our presence at the summit.

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Stay up to date with our presence at COP30 and discover how we’re speaking up for animals and biodiversity.

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At COP30 World Animal Protection will lead efforts to elevate food systems as a climate priority, highlighting five actionable steps:

• A Just Food Transition: Supporting farmers and workers in shifting from factory farming to sustainable, humane agroecology.
• Global Shift from Industrial Animal Agriculture: High-income nations must lead, while supporting low-income countries in building local, resilient food systems.
• Redirect Public Funds: Subsidies and climate finance should favour plant-based and high-welfare farming over factory farming.
• Stop Deforestation: Governments must halt forest conversion for feed crops and livestock expansion.
• Joined-Up Policy Integration: Climate, biodiversity, land-use, and food strategies must be harmonised, with full respect for Indigenous, small-scale farmers and animal welfare.

COP29 Summary

Baku, Azerbaijan (2024)
A finance summit that failed to fund the future

Throughout COP29, we intensified our call for urgent action through our policy brief, making it clear that governments must wake up to the undeniable role of animal agriculture in the climate crisis.

Our message is simple yet urgent: the current food systems are unsustainable, and a just transition to a sustainable alternative is not a future option - it's a critical, immediate necessity.

We hosted several key events, using these platforms to demand that decision-makers act.

COP29 was expected to be a landmark moment for climate finance. While a $300 billion commitment was announced under the New Collective Quantified Goal, however it fell far short of the $1.3 trillion economists agree is necessary to meet climate targets and protect frontline communities.

Despite this pledge, the summit was ultimately a "great finance escape," dominated by delay, weak ambition, and inaction on industrial agriculture, leaving the world’s biggest emitter unchallenged.

The influence of industrial meat lobbyists was evident, drowning out the voices of small-scale farmers and climate justice advocates. Without bold leadership and a just transition away from factory farming, the 1.5°C target remains dangerously out of reach.

COP28 Summary

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (2023)
Food systems step into the spotlight; yet still under-addressed

Credit: World Animal Protection

For the first time, food systems featured prominently on the official agenda. World Animal Protection held major side events and co-hosted the Food4Climate Pavilion, highlighting the climate and cruelty costs of factory farming.

A major report, ‘How factory farming emissions are worsening climate disasters in the Global South.’ was launched to expose the role of meat and dairy corporations in global emissions and biodiversity loss.

However, while the Emirates Declaration promised transformation, it largely ignored the need to reduce industrial animal agriculture, a glaring omission in global climate planning.

World Animal Protection continues to call out false solutions like methane inhibitors and Big Ag's unchecked influence, advocating for a shift to agroecological, humane food systems as a true climate solution.

COP27 Summary

Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt (2022)
Small steps forward, but still avoiding the biggest emitter in the room

COP27 finally recognised agriculture’s link to climate change, with the inclusion of food systems in negotiations. Civil society made its voice heard, pushing hard for loss and damage funding and for sustainable food to be taken seriously.

However, COP27 failed to commit to phasing out fossil fuels or addressing emissions from factory farming, the largest source of methane and a top driver of deforestation and habitat loss.

World Animal Protection revealed that industrial farming emissions, including from companies like JBS, are being vastly underreported. Our Climate Change and Cruelty report made it clear: without tackling industrial livestock, there’s no path to 1.5°C.

COP26 Summary

Glasgow, United Kingdom (2021)
Ambitious rhetoric, but critical sectors left behind

World Animal Protection joined over 100 NGOs on a joint statement calling for food and animal agriculture to be central to COP26.

The conference emphasised tracking the science, with goals like “keeping 1.5°C alive” and phasing out coal. Unfortunately, we reported “food systems were rarely mentioned by leaders" during the event, despite clear evidence linking it to deforestation, methane emissions, and biodiversity loss. This undermined the pledges made in these areas.

COP25 Summary

Madrid, Spain (December 2019)
Hindered by delayed processes and a fragmented agenda

Ahead of COP25 World Animal Protection along with 14 other organizations released a policy brief, urging leaders attending the 2019 United Nations' Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25) to take immediate action to reduce planet-warming emissions from food and intensive animal agriculture.

COP25 concluded with unresolved negotiations on markets and finance. While World Animal Protection and allied NGOs continued to raise awareness, there were no official commitments to address the emissions or expansion pressures from factory farming.

The omission of factory farming and food systems from climate negotiations drew criticism from civil society.

COP24 Summary

Katowice, Poland (December 2018)
Technical success, but silent on farming

COP24 finalized the “rulebook” under the Paris Agreement. Although it established how countries must report emissions transparently, it neglected to include industrial animal agriculture. World Animal Protection explicitly called for agriculture’s inclusion in climate policy, warning that ignoring it left a “critical gap” in addressing greenhouse gases.

Still from our COP28 animation film. Credit: World Animal Protection / Jolt Studios

COP FAQs

How many Conferences of the Parties have there been?

As of 2024, there have been 29 Conferences of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The first was held in 1995 in Berlin, Germany, and COP30 is scheduled for November 2025 in Belém, Brazil.

How often do COP meetings happen?

COP meetings take place annually. They are typically held towards the end of the calendar year, with participation from nearly every country in the world. The annual nature of COP reflects the urgency of the global response needed to address the climate crisis.

When did the Conference of the Parties start?

The first COP (COP1) was held in 1995 in Berlin. It marked the beginning of formal negotiations under the UNFCCC, which was established at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. These meetings aim to assess implementation progress and push forward global climate goals.

Where is the next COP being held?

COP30 will take place in Belém, Brazil, in November 2025. This marks a historic moment, as it will be the first time the Amazon region hosts the summit—an ecosystem critical to climate stability and severely threatened by industrial agriculture.

How can I attend a COP event?

Government delegates attend the COP, but it is also open to accredited observers, including NGOs, Indigenous representatives, youth groups, and scientists. Members of the public can attend side events or participate in civil society activities. The UNFCCC manages accreditation, and application timelines are announced ahead of each COP.

What is the Paris Agreement?

The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change adopted at COP21 in 2015. Its main goal is to limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, while striving to keep it under 1.5°C. Without addressing factory farming, the Paris goals cannot be met. Achieving this goal requires major cuts in greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors, including food and farming.