At COP3 in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, the first treaty to implement the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol was produced. It mandated that industrialized countries reduce their emissions by 5.2% by 2012 compared to 1990 levels. Kyoto came into force in 2005, but without the United States, the protocol lost its force. Meanwhile, driven by China's growth, developing countries became the world's largest emitters.

It took until COP21 in 2015 for a universal climate pact, the Paris Agreement, to be signed. Its goal is to stabilize global warming well below 2⁰C, (preferably 1.5⁰C), and neutralize emissions by mid-century. All countries are required to submit targets, known as NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions), but each country is free to define its intended goals. Every five years, the collective ambition of the NDCs is reviewed and new targets are presented.

In 2023, at COP28 in Dubai, the Global Stocktake, the first review of NDC ambitions, concluded that the world is far from the goal of stabilizing global warming at 1.5⁰C and concluded that humanity needs a "just, orderly, and equitable transition away from fossil fuels." This was the first time that the gradual elimination of the main drivers of the climate crisis was mentioned in an international text for negotiation. The Global Stocktake was designed to inform the new cycle of NDCs for 2035, which would be presented in 2025, prior to the COP in Brazil.

In November 2025, negotiators from 197 countries will meet in Belém, Pará, for what is being called the "COP of implementation." COP30 must conclude some negotiations under the Paris Agreement, such as the global adaptation target, advance the so-called just transition, and present the world with a roadmap for mobilizing US$1.3 trillion annually to combat the climate crisis in poor countries. But Belém also needs to address the inadequacy of the NDCs presented this year—which still don't put us on the path to a safe climate—and advance a timetable for eliminating fossil fuels and deforestation.