Permanent Group on the UNFCCC Conference of the parties (COPs)

The EESC Permanent Group (PG) on the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COPs) plays a key role in enhancing the EESC’s strategic participation in the annual climate COP meetings and beyond. In fact, given the urgency of tackling the climate and biodiversity crisis together, and the need to increase synergies between the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the scope of the group was already extended to include work related to the CBD process. This reflects the EESC’s long-term commitment to supporting systemic approaches to address the triple planetary crisis, integrating climate and biodiversity action, enhancing synergies among the Rio Conventions and mainstreaming these issues across its legislative work.

The group aims at ensuring continuity and strategic input from civil society in the international processes on climate and biodiversity governance; and promoting cross-cutting collaboration and engagement among all relevant EESC bodies in the context of COPs.

The PG on COPs is composed of members from the Employers’ Group, the Workers’ Group and the Civil Society Organisations’ Group, as well as a youth representative.

It has been mandated the following tasks:

• To acquire knowledge of the climate and biodiversity COPs processes and to be up to date with the central aspects of the negotiations; this may include specific training for the PG on COPs members (and for the EESC delegation at the COPs).
• To promote strategic cross-sectoral cooperation with different EESC bodies, to disseminate COPs decisions into the work of the EESC, and to bring the EESC positions to relevant actors within the COPs processes.
• To coordinate the preparation of relevant EESC contributions aligned with the next COPs' priorities and negotiation processes, to be adopted at least two months before the COPs meetings.
• To develop a comprehensive annual work plan focusing primarily on the next COPs’ meeting, key milestones (opinions, contributions, events, others), a network of relevant stakeholders and partners, and a communication strategy.
• To contribute to the preparatory work of the EESC delegation to COPs, working closely with the EESC delegation and the EESC youth delegate to COP.

The Permanent Group (previously Ad Hoc Group) was created in February 2022 to foster a strategic, inclusive and permanent EESC engagement in these multilateral processes.