The goal of the two-week conference, which took place in Katowice, Poland, was to set up a framework with which countries that signed the agreement could use to help keep a rise in global temperatures well below 2° Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The first week featured discussions of a more technical nature, by scientists and low-level government officials. The week was punctuated by a group of four of the world's largest nations refusing to accept a certain wording with regard to a recent report warning of the catastrophic changes ahead if significant measure aren't taken to address the problem. World leaders and other high-ranking government officials conducted discussions during the second week, which ended with agreement on what is being called the "Paris Rulebook."

The book has 156 pages of strategies for countries to follow, divided into themes, such as mechanisms for monitoring emissions and for dealing with countries that exceed targets. What isn't in the rulebook is any sort of hard consequence for not cutting emission targets by 2020, when the 2015 Paris Agreement takes effect.

One well publicized activity that took place outside the negotiating areas was a speech given by a 15-year-old activist who had urged a world school walkout to demand action on climate change. In the speech, Greta Thunberg said that she was disappointed that world leaders were, in effect, passing the burden of fixing climate problems on to her generation and beyond.