Next week will see thousands of people arrive in Katowice, Poland, for the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, otherwise known as COP24.

Taking place between December 2 and 14, a lot is riding on the summit.

"The upcoming climate talks are the most important round of negotiations since the Paris Agreement was reached three years ago," Lou Leonard, the World Wildlife Fund's senior vice president for climate change and energy, told CNBC via email.

The Paris Agreement, reached at COP21 in 2015, will loom large over events at Katowice. It was at COP21 that world leaders committed to making sure global warming stayed "well below" 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. They also agreed to pursue efforts to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

According to the United Nations, COP24 is important because this year marks the deadline agreed by signatories of the Paris Agreement to adopt a "work program for the implementation" of the commitments they made in 2015.

Other commitments made in Paris include increasing financing for climate action and the development of "national climate plans" by 2020.

"People from around the globe will be watching to see what world leaders accomplish at this round of negotiations," Leonard added. "It's the biggest test we've seen of countries' commitment to the Paris Agreement."