The COP serves as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP). All States that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol are represented at the CMP, while States that are not Parties participate as observers. The CMP reviews the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol and takes decisions to promote its effective implementation.

The CMP meets annually during the same period as the COP. Parties to the Convention that are not Parties to the Protocol are able to participate in the CMP as observers, but without the right to take decisions. The functions of the CMP relating to the Protocol are similar to those carried out by the COP for the Convention.

The first meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol was held in Montreal, Canada in December 2005, in conjunction with the eleventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11).

The Parties to the Kyoto Protocol also formally adopted the "rulebook" of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the so-called ‘Marrakesh accords’, which sets the framework for implementation of the Protocol.