The Standing Committee was established by Resolution 1.1 of the Conference of the Parties (COP). It is responsible for carrying out interim activities on behalf of the COP to

• ensure that decisions are implemented,
• monitor the budget,
• make recommendations for consideration by the next COP,
• provide advice and guidance to the Secretariat,
• represent the  COP in negotiations with the Host Government and UNEP with regard to the Secretariat,
• act as a bureau at the COP,
• and to undertake any other ad hoc task assigned to it by the COP.

The Standing Committee usually meets immediately before and after the COP. Intersessionally it usually meets once a year. The Committee consists of representatives of every global region, of the Depositary, of the country that hosted the previous COP and where applicable, of the country which plans to host the next meeting of the COP. The two regions with the largest membership (Europe and Africa) have three representatives each, Central & South America & the Caribbean and Asia both have two and Oceania one. There are no Parties from North America.

Terms of Reference for the Regional Representatives, adopted by the 37th Meeting of the Standing Committee