What is the COP Presidencies Troika?

A new environmental partnership aims to accelerate and strengthen climate action at the highest levels of government worldwide. So what is the COP Presidencies Troika, and how will it work?

The COP Presidencies Troika unites the UAE, Azerbaijan and Brazil, the hosts of COP from 2023-2025. With its name derived from a style of carriage drawn by three horses side-by-side, the Troika embodies a growing global commitment to cooperation and action, to meet the ambitious climate goals set for 2030. The Troika aims to tackle three problems that have slowed progress on climate action: maintaining momentum, ensuring continuity and driving implementation.

Maintaining momentum year round

Critically, the Troika aims to keep the urgency of climate action high between COP conferences. It’s not uncommon for global climate initiatives to take place at a staccato rhythm, marked by intense flurries in discussion and ambitious commitments, then inactivity or inaction in intervening months while climate goals get sidelined by economic factors, regulatory delays and ebbs in political will.

In just the last year, the UK government announced its intention to “water down” some of its climate change commitments. Under the administration of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil saw deforestation of the Amazon rainforest greatly increased, often called the lungs of planet Earth for its importance to global environment health. In Poland, five citizens resorted to taking the government to court for their poor environmental record.

These commitments often stumble when the urgency from COP has faded and governments are faced with considerable regional or local economic pressures to compromise on sustainability. With the three governments actively working to keep climate discussions a priority, the Troika aims to give the environment a stronger voice throughout the year, strengthening action for climate change long after the conference doors close.

Ensuring continuity and driving implementation

Moreover, the Troika aims to streamline climate change efforts and bridge the gap between commitment and action. The UAE Consensus included a plan for the three COP Presidencies to collaborate on a "Roadmap to Mission 1.5°C."

COP29, happening in Baku, Azerbaijan, is expected to focus on a new collective financial target, called the New Collective Quantified Goal, or NCQG for climate action. This target aims to address the specific needs of developing countries. If agreed upon, the NCQG would be the most significant development in climate finance since 2009, when developed countries pledged to jointly raise $100 billion annually by to support developing nations.

Building on the progress from both the UAE Consensus and COP29, the focus at COP30 in Brazil will be on ensuring strong commitments from individual countries in their next round of national climate plans, due in 2025. The Troika will play a key role in this. The aim is to make sure these national plans are ambitious enough to collectively achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement while also considering sustainable development and poverty eradication efforts.

By working in tandem and with this clear plan for the next three COPs, the Troika aims to ensure that – individually and collectively – there is no wavering from working towards sustainable goals. 

A Historic COP Initiative

Previous COPs have been heavily criticized by observers and journalists for discordance, misalignment or lack of urgency.

COP4 in Buenos Aires in 1998 was described as “two weeks of ill-tempered talks”. Action at COP12 in Nairobi was lambasted for “glacial progress.” Lima’s COP20 was summed up as a conference that “overran and underdelivered.”

COP28 grabbed headlines for many reasons, including being the first COP to call for a clear transition “away from fossil fuels”, but also for recognizing that there are only a few more years left before climate change makes our decisions for us.

At the launch of the Troika in Dubai, COP28 President Dr. Sultan Al Jaber said: "COP28 delivered a different, groundbreaking COP, that culminated in The UAE Consensus. At COP28, Parties mobilized behind historic climate action through both the negotiations and their commitments to the Presidential Action Agenda.”

“The Troika helps ensure we have the collaboration and continuity required to keep the North Star of 1.5°C in sight – from Baku to Belém and beyond. The breakthroughs we all achieved at COP28 must carry forward to COP29 and 30 – in ambitious nationally determined contributions, climate finance follow through, and accelerated implementation."