3.2 The bodies established by the Convention and the Protocol

Under the Convention, five bodies co-exist:

1. The Conference of the Parties (COP), which consists of negotiators from ratifying countries, meets once a year to review the implementation and to take decisions on how to improve the implementation process (Art. 7)(1).

2. The Secretariat undertakes the day-to-day activities of coordinating the implementation and makes arrangements for the annual meetings of the COP. Under Rule 28/29 of the Rules of Procedure (see Section 4), it must provide needed staff and services, interpretation services, receive, translate, reproduce and distribute documents, make sound recordings of the meetings, prepare the agenda, etc.

3. A Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) has been established to advise the COP about the latest developments in the scientific and technological area and to provide policy recommendations (Art. 9). The SBSTA meets once or twice a year (2).

4. The Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) provides assistance in assessing and reviewing the implementation of the Convention.

5. The Convention also identified the Global Environment Facility (GEF) as an interim operating entity to provide financial resources on a grant or concessional basis, including for technology transfer, to the developing countries.

The Kyoto Protocol will use the Secretariat and the subsidiary bodies established under the Convention, and the Conference of the Parties to the Convention will serve as the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (hence the abbreviation COP/MOP).