Open Letter on COP reform to All States that are Parties to the Convention
Mr. Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC Secretariat and UN Secretary-General António Guterres

November 15, 2024

Excellencies,

We, the undersigned, write today to reiterate and update the call for COP reform, which was first conveyed in our open letter to the UNFCCC Secretariat, dated February 23, 2023.

We recognise the important diplomatic milestones of the past 28 years of climate negotiations. A remarkable consensus has been achieved with over 195 countries having agreed to strive to hold global warming to 1.5°C. We also recognise the key role of the UNFCCC Secretariat in helping to bring all 195 countries along the steps necessary to establish the global policy framework, which is underpinned by the Paris Agreement and its subsequent COP decisions.

Beyond the Paris goals, countries have now agreed to phase out fossil fuels, end inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies, stop deforestation by 2030, operationalise carbon trading globally, and most have joined the Global Methane Pledge. Governments have pledged $100 billion annually to the Green Climate Fund, and the Loss and Damage Fund is officially established. 

Despite some of its flaws, and limited resources, the global policy framework is scientifically rigorous and economically sound and complete. But the framework alone is not enough to solve the problems.

Global emissions continue to increase, carbon sinks are being degraded and we can no longer exclude the possibility of surpassing 2.9°C of warming by 2100. Our first encounter with 1.5°C was accompanied by unprecedented human impacts coupled with enormous climate costs running into the hundreds of billions in 2023. Science tells us that global greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 7.5% annually to have any chance of staying within the 1.5°C threshold, a prerequisite for the stability of our planet and a livable future for much of humanity. In 2024, the task is unequivocal: global greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 4 billion tonnes.

28 COPs have delivered us with the policy framework to achieve this. However, its current structure simply cannot deliver the change at exponential speed and scale, which is essential to ensure a safe climate landing for humanity. This is what compels our call for a fundamental overhaul of the COP. We need a shift from negotiation to implementation, enabling the COP to deliver on agreed commitments and ensure the urgent energy transition and phase-out of fossil energy.

We outline below our suggested measures for reform:

1. Improve the selection process for COP presidencies
We need strict eligibility criteria to exclude countries who do not support the phase out/transition away from fossil energy. Host countries must demonstrate their high level of ambition to uphold the goals of the Paris Agreement.

2. Streamline for speed and scale
With the global policy map fully developed, COP must shift away from negotiations to the delivery of concrete action. COP meetings must be transformed into smaller, more frequent, solution-driven meetings where countries report on progress, are held accountable in line with the latest science, and discuss important solutions for finance, technology and equity. This work must be supplemented by the benchmarking of national progress using the UN Gap Reports. This approach will accelerate action and allow for timely adjustments based on emerging scientific findings and changing global circumstances. 

3. Improve implementation and accountability
The COP process must be strengthened with mechanisms to hold countries accountable for their climate targets and commitments. Whilst the Paris framework was intended to operate in “delivery mode”, it is not working because governments are not held to account to ensure that national action plans align with the latest scientific evidence.  The Global Stocktake process is an important start but it must be strengthened with enhanced reporting and benchmarking, rigorous peer-review processes, independent scientific oversight and transparent tracking of pledges and action.

4. Ensure robust tracking of climate financing
A growing proportion of climate financing pledges are now being disbursed as interest-bearing loans, thereby exacerbating the debt burden for climate vulnerable nations. We need standardised definitions and criteria for what qualifies as climate finance, along with common reporting frameworks and tracking mechanisms to verify climate financing flows. All of these measures are critical for rebuilding trust and accountability and for mobilising the necessary resources.

5. Amplify the voice of authoritative science
Whilst the climate COP does rely on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other related bodies, such as the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), it does not have its own permanent scientific advisory body that is formally part of the COP structure. We share growing concerns that climate COPs do not sufficiently integrate or action up the latest scientific evidence. The CBD COP has its own permanent scientific advisory body, which has provided a technical and scientific underpinning for the CBD. And the same could be replicated within the climate COP.

6. Recognise the interdependencies between poverty, inequality and planetary instability
New research from the Earth Commission and from Earth4All affirms the important linkages between ecological and social change processes. If the climate COP is to be more impactful, it must acknowledge that the current rate of nature loss (e.g. freshwater scarcity, land and soil degradation, pollination decline, ocean pollution) is affecting the stability of the planet. Moreover, planetary stability, now at grave risk, is impossible without decisive action on equality, justice and poverty alleviation. This is why we call for a Climate-Poverty Policy Envoy to ensure that these critical links are anchored in the negotiations and implementation actions, especially through dedicated spaces for vulnerable communities to advocate for these linkages.

7. Enhance equitable representation
Despite the climate COP’s new disclosure rules, a record number of 2,456 fossil fuel lobbyists were granted access at COP28, nearly four times more than COP27. The fact that there were far more fossil fuel lobbyists than official representatives from scientific institutions, Indigenous communities and vulnerable nations reflects a systemic imbalance in COP representation. Improving the management of corporate interests within COPs proceedings will require stronger transparency and disclosure rules and clear guidelines that require companies to demonstrate alignment between their climate commitments, business model and lobbying activities. 

In closing, let us reiterate the important role the UNFCCC has played and will continue to play in ensuring ambition on climate change. There is no doubt that climate change is a global challenge and must be solved through multilateral negotiations alongside ambition at the National level through Nationally Determined Contributions. The Paris agreement and subsequent COP decisions have laid a robust foundation for the global policy framework on climate action. Now, we must work together with urgency and purpose, transforming the climate COP so that it can take strategic, action-oriented and accountable decisions to deliver the scale of ambition commensurate with the defining challenge of our time.

SIGNATORIES
Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Executive Chair, Earth4All and Global Ambassador for the Club of Rome
Prof. Dr. Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Action Research
Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations
Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland
Christiana Figueres, Former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Connie Hedegaard, Chair of the Board for the KR Foundation and former EU  Former EU Commissioner for Climate Action
Dr. Carlos Nobre, Member of the Joint Steering Committee of the World Climate Research Programme & the Rockefeller Foundation Economic Council on Planetary Health
Dr. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director-General, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
Dr. Bertrand Piccard, President, Solar Impulse Foundation
Esmeralda of Belgium, President of the Leopold III Fund for Nature Exploration and Conservation
Maria João Rodrigues, President, Foundation for European Progressive Studies
Youba Sokona, Chair, African Institute for Sustainable Energy and System Analysis  and former Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Dr. Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, Council on Energy, Environment and Water
Sharan Burrow, former General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation
Phyllis Cuttino, President and CEO, The Climate Reality Project
Ilona Szabó de Carvalho, Co-founder and President,  Igarapé Institute
Eva Zabey, Executive-Director, Business for Nature
Sheela Patel,  Director,  Society for Promotion of Area Resource Centres  and Global Ambassador for the Race to Zero and Race to Resilience
Dr. Gunhild A. Stordalen, Co-founder and Executive Chair, EAT
Marie-Claire Graf, Co-Founder, Youth Negotiators Academy & YOUNGO Focal Point COP26
Paul Shrivastava, Co-President, The Club of Rome 

SUPPORTERS
Arthur Lyon Dahl, President, International Environment Forum
John Vlasto, Chair of the World Federalist Movement
Amanda Ellis, Senior Director, Global Partnerships and Networks, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory
Roberto Buizza, Full Professor in Physics, Interdisciplinary Centre on Sustainability and Climate, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa
Mathias Sibanda, Laudato Si Movement Chapter Coordinator for Zimbabwe
Parents for Future Global
Dr Stanislav Shmelev, Member of the Club of Rome, Founder and CEO, Environment Europe Foundation
Prof. Dr. MK Dorsey, Director and Chair, Walton Sustainability Solutions Service
Kerryn Higgs, Australian writer and historian, Associate Member of The Club of Rome
Pascal Girot, Chair of the School of Geography at the University of Costa Rica
Christopher Mbanefo, Founder and CEO of YASAVA Solutions SA and of OXÏ-ZEN Solutions LLC
Kirsten Dunlop, Chief Executive Officer, Climate-KIC
Daniel Ortega, Former Minister of Environment of Ecuador
Mark Watts, Executive Director, C40
Professor Benito Müller, Managing Director, Oxford Climate Policy; Convener International Climate Policy Research, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford
Bianca Pitt, Co-Founder, SHE Changes Climate
Antoinette Vermilye, Co-Founder, SHE Changes Climate, Co-Founder, Gallifrey Foundation
Mamta Borgoyary, Executive Director, SHE Changes Climate
Sharmini Peries, Director of Resources and Strategy, President’s Office, The Institute for New Economic Thinking
Rob Johnson, President, The Institute for New Economic Thinking
Cindy Forde, Author, Changemaker, Founder of Planetari, Associate Fellow, Homerton College,University of Cambridge
Katharine Hayhoe, Distinguished Professor, Texas Tech University
Alison Tickell, Founder and Director, Julie’s Bicycle
Jessica Robinson, Partner, Solve Strategies
Gail Whiteman Hoffmann, Impact Professor University of Exeter & Founder, Arctic Basecamp Co-Founder, Climate Basecamp
Hunter Lovins, President, Natural Capitalism Solutions
Peter Bridgewater, Honorary Professor, Centre for Heritage and Museum studies, The Australian National University and also former Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, 1971)
Romain Weikmans, Chair of Global Environmental Governance at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) / Free University of Brussels
Antonio Sarmiento Galán, Instituto de Matemáticas, UNAM
David Joseph Allieu, Executive Director, Civil Society Advocacy Network on Climate Change and the Environment Sierra Leone
Jeffrey Spencer, Pastor and Teacher at Niles Discovery Church, Fremont, California
Anji Seth, Interim Head, Department of Geography, Sustainability, Community, and Urban Studies University of Connecticut
Austin Hinkel, Assistant Professor of Physics, Thomas More University
Mark Slater, The Green Party of England and Wales
Bruce Beauverd, Ph.D. candidate, Public Health at Walden University
Robert Kim,Children’s Climate Championship
Romain Troublé, Executive Director, Tara Ocean Foundation and Chairman of the Board, Ocean & Climate platform
Harry Rutter, Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Bath, UK
Karima Kadaoui, Member of The Club of Rome, Co-President of Climate Bridges, Co-Founder & Executive President of Tamkeen Community Foundation for Human Development
Sterling Smith, Retired Methodist pastor
Garth Wilkinson, PhD (Physics Cantab UK), Dstl Fellow (Ret)
Dawn J. Wright, Full Professor of Geography and Oceanography, Oregon State University
Giulia Cencetti, Centre de Physique Théorique, Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Marseille (France).
Manna Jo Greene, Energy, Environment and Sustainability and Climate Smart Committees
Marco Cervino, Researcher at the National Research Council, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC)
Peter Stoett, Dean of Social Science and Humanities at Ontario Tech University, Canada
Marcio Viegas, Founder and Managing Director, SUST4IN
Peter C Frumhoff, Lecturer on Environmental Science and Public Policy, Harvard University
Karl Steininger, Director of the Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change, University of Graz, Austria
Ronal W. Larson, Moderator of the list “biochar.io”, past chair of ASES (American Solar Energy Society)
Alissa M. Kleinnijenhuis, Visiting Assistant Professor of Finance, Cornell University; Imperial College London
Richard van der Jagt, Adjunct Professor of Medicine (Hematology),University of Ottawa, And Board Member, Canadian Association for the Club of Rome (CACOR)
Mónica Medina, Pennsylvania State University
Joseph K. Ingram, Fellow of The Canadian Global Affairs Institute, the former President of The North-South Institute, and former World Bank Special Representative to the UN and the WTO.
Sana Kapadia, Chief Catalyst, Heading for Change
Luis Gomez-Echeverri, Emeritus Senior Research Scholar, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria, former senior member of UNFCCC secretariat
Loreley Picourt, Executive Director of the Ocean & Climate Platform
Maria Maisuradze, Founder and CEO, ED4S
Kim Stanley Robinson, Author of The Ministry for the Future
Ralph C. Martin, Professor (retired), Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph
Geoff Strong, Climate scientist, Board member of CACOR (Canadian Assoc. of the Club of Rome), member of CMOS (Can. Meteorological and oceanographic Society)
Laura Taal-Groeneveld, Founder of REVIVER
Thang Nam Do, Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University, Canberra
Petros A. M. Gelepithis, University Professor, Artificial Intelligence & Science of Noémon Systems Brain and Mind Sciences Faculty, School of Medicine, University of Crete
Ole Faergeman, Emeritus professor of preventive cardiology, Department of Cardiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark
Christopher H.D. Magadza, “Founding Fellow African Academy Of Sciences, Founding Fellow Zimbabwe Academy of Sciences. Chairman Man and Biosphere (MAB: Zimbabwe) Committee, Co-recipient of the IPCC Nobel Peace Prize 2007 (IPCC)
Patrick Worms, President, International Union of Agroforestry
Robert J. Zomer, Presidential Research Fellow, Center for Mountain Futures, Kunming Institute of Botany – Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peter Paap, Co-chair of the Council of Fellows of the Global Evergreening Alliance
John G. Hollins, Member and Past Chair of the Canadian Club of Rome (CaCOR), Lead-author, Pathways to Reducing Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions,
Margi Prideaux, Author of FIRE: A Message from the Edge of Climate Catstrophe and retired founder of Wild Migration
Jill E. Schneider, Professor Emeritus, Department of Biological Sciences of Lehigh University and Chair of Climate Reality Lehigh Valley, PA Chapter
David Pardo, Founding Partner of Sif.vc
Jason Meggs, Climate Advisor to the Regents of the University of California, Berkeley Carbon Trading Project, Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley, and Member, Transportation Energy Committee (AMS30), Transportation Research Board
Michael Sauers, Writer/Editor, Greenfire Coalition Writers’ Forum
Michael Loik, Professor, Environmental Studies Department, University of California, Santa Cruz
Hemant Ojha,  Adjunct Associate Professor, Australian National University, Canberra
Meg Sears, Chair, Prevent Cancer Now, and Sr Research Assoc, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Rob de Laet, Climate Strategist, Co-author of Cooling the Climate, Fellow of the Global Evergreening Alliance and principal member of the EcoRestoration Alliance
Joseph Merz, Director, Merz Institute; Senior Fellow, Global EverGreening Alliance; Lead author, World scientists’ warning: The behavioural crisis driving ecological overshoot.
Mat Maroni, Fellow of Global Evergreening Alliance, Merz Insitute
Pedro Echeveste, Professor, Department of Biology, Area of Microbiology, University of the Balearic Islands
Elia Valentini, Senior Lecturer, Environmental rep for UCU, Member of the Centre for Environment and Society
Talha Tufail, Bhatti Research officer – Climate change – Institute of Regional Studies, Pakistan
Petter Gubbels, Senior Advisor for West Africa, Groundswell International and Senior Fellow, Global EverGreening Alliance
Manuel Guzmán Hennessey, General Director KLN and Professor at Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá
Elizabeth Ann Burakowski, Research Assistant Professor, Earth Systems Research Center & Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire
Salih Ertan, Founding Member of ENSIA – Energy Industrialists and Business Association – Clean Energy Cluster Türkiye
Andrea Tilche, Professor of clean technologies for the energy transition, University of Bologna, Former Head of the Climate Change and Earth Observation Unit of DG RTD, and head of the EU delegation at the IPCC
Sue Orloff, Biologists without Borders (NGO)
Randall Hayes, Executive Director of Foundation Earth
Angela Reed Head, Mercy Global Action – Mercy International Association
Phoebe Barnard, Founding CEO, Stable Planet Alliance and Affiliate Professor of Environmental Futures, University of Washington
Chloe Colclough, Founder, Solutionary Futures
Merideth Kelliher, Chair of Livestock Methane Reduction Group at Global Harmonization Initiative
Teresa Fajardo, Professor of International Law, University of Granada
Nikola Biliškov Ruđer, Bošković Institute / Scientists for climate, Croatia
António Gonçalves Pereira, President of Ecomood Portugal and European Climate Pact Ambassador
Luciana Favaro, President EuCliPa.IT Partner organizazion of Eu Climate Pact
Young-jin Choi, Head of Impact & ESG
Zsuzsanna Lehel, Director, Heroes of Responsible Dining Foundation
Gianni Tartari, EuCliPa.IT
Sr. Mary F Wangari Sebastian lssj, Director: Justice , peace and integrity of creation Franciscans Africa
Gonzalo Bacigalupe, Professor, University of Massachusetts Boston
Giuseppe D’ippolito, EU Climate Pact Ambassador, former parliamentarian
Lesley Boocock (Morgana), URI Netherlands / Secr.
Edward Manning, Member, Club of Rome, Chair Canadian Association for the Club of Rome
Gianrossano Giannini, European Climate Pact Ambassador and Scientific Committee coordinator of EuCliPa.IT association, retired full professor of Physics of Trieste University and INFN-TS senior researcher
Million Belay Ali, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa

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