The Greenland Dialogue was held in Ilulissat in june-july 2009. It was the fifth in a series of informal discussions on climate change between key ministers in the international negotiations on climate change.
Initiated in 2005 in Greenland by the former Danish Minister for Environment and Minister for Climate and Energy, Connie Hedegaard, the Greenland dialogue has continued in South Africa (2006), Sweden (2007) and in Argentina (2008). In 2009 the dialogue was held in Ilulissat in Greenland from 30th of June to 3rd of July.
All dialogues have followed the same concept as developed by the Danish Minister: Unique climate relevant environments, limited amount of participants, informal discussions and no access for the press. The idea has been to create an informal and inspiring environment for key environment and climate ministers to engage in substantive and open discussions on future actions on climate change. These discussions have greatly contributed to advances in the international negotiations.
Certainly this year, The Greenland Dialogue was an important event in the process leading up to the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen December 2009. 30 ministers from key countries in the negotiations were invited for 3 days of discussion. In addition to the discussions, there were excursions to view the beautiful nature of Greenland and experience first hand the consequences of climate change in the Arctic region.
The formal outcome of the meeting is short “chairman’s conclusions” that reflect the discussions.
Click here to read the Chair's Summary of the Greenland Dialogue 2009Click here to read the list of participants at the Greenland Dialogue 2009