The COP15 climate conference

In December 2009 Denmark is hosting the 15^th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The climate change conference, also known as COP 15, will take place in Copenhagen from 7 to 18th December 2009.

The Conference of Parties (COP) is the highest organ in climate negotiations and it is here all decisions of importance to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are made. All countries that have signed the UNFCCC are represented.

Copenhagen crucial for the negotiations
COP15 in Copenhagen in December 2009 is crucial for the international climate change negotiations. The parties to the UNFCCC agreed at COP13 in Bali in December 2007 that negotiations on a future agreement have to be concluded at COP15 in Copenhagen. The decision was made on the backdrop to the increased emphasis on the need for swift action made in the latest report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. And also the recognition that 2009 will be one of the last chances for a agreement if it is to be approved and ratified prior to the expiry of the commitments set in the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.

The Danish government's overarching goal is that COP15 will result in an ambitious global agreement that includes all the countries of the world and which sets ambitious targets for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

15,000 visitors expected
Ministers from over 170 countries are expected to participate in COP15. The total number of officials, ministers, representatives from NGOs and businesses will number between 12,000 and 15,000.

By way of comparison, the last two major international conferences in Denmark – the World Summit for Social Development in 1995 and the European Council Summit during the Danish EU presidency in 2002 – were attended by 16,000 and 5,800 delegates, staff and members of the press, respectively.