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When is COP15?

December 7-18th, 2009

Where is COP15 being held?

The Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Who will attend COP15?

Several thousand delegates from the192 countries that have signed the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) will be attending COP15 in Copenhagen this year. These will include heads of state, ministers, senior government officials, and several observer organizations.

COP14 President Maciej Nowicki speaking in Pozna, Poland
at the 2008 conference

What does COP stand for?

COP stands for conference of parties, a term used by the United Nations.

When was the first COP meeting?

The first such conference was held in 1995 in Berlin. It was marked by uncertainty as to the resources the individual participating countries possessed to combat greenhouse gas emissions. This resulted in “The Berlin Mandate", which set a two-year analysis and evaluation phase. This phase resulted in a catalog of measures nations could take to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Member countries could use this catalog to compose their own set of initiatives.

What is the Kyoto Protocol?

Perhaps the most famous outcome of a COP meeting to date was the agreement made in Kyoto, Japan at COP3 in 1997. At this conference, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted. This was the first agreement to introduce binding targets for greenhouse gas emissions in 37 industrialized countries from 2008 to 2012. On February 16, 2005 it came into force but several of the UNFCCC never agreed to it and do not acknowledge its requirements regarding emissions — most notably the USA.

What was decided at the last COP meeting?

The biggest recent decision was the Bali Action Plan that came from COP13 in 2007. At that meeting, all UNFCCC countries concurred that an agreement is needed based on a long-term shared vision and four building blocks:

• Increased mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions
• Adaptation to climate change
• Technology transfers and development
• Financing

What will be discussed at COP15?

Even though there is agreement among the parties behind the UNFCCC that a shared vision should be drawn up to tackle climate change based on the four building blocks, after two years there is still disagreement as to exactly what this vision should include. Organizers will try to reach a global agreement in Copenhagen that will extend beyond the Kyoto agreement and be ratified by all 192 participating countries.

What if an agreement is not reached?

Deliberations will continue into their 18th year (official talks began in 1992) while climate change will continue to affect our planet.

Can I attend the conference?

The conference is only open to the official delegates and select members of the press. It is not open to the general public.

What can I do to ensure COP15 is a success?

Raise awareness and let the delegates know the world is watching. We can help. Go to My Green Pledge and tell the delegates and the rest of the 1.7 billion people on the Internet how you feel about climate change and about COP15. Then ask your friends to do the same.

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