The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009 was the culmination of months of negotiations complemented by community, industry and private sector-led events aimed at promoting urgent decision-making and action to combat climate change. It resulted in the Copenhagen Accord under which several developing and developed countries outlined intentions and commitments on carbon emissions, pledged support for technology transfer and acknowledged the importance of forest systems in combating climate change.
Speaking to the media in January, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Yvo de Boer said COP15 had produced three key outcomes - raising climate change to the highest level of government; political consensus on the long-term, global response to climate change, and negotiations which brought the set of decisions to implement rapid climate action closer to completion - and looked ahead to COP16 in Mexico late this year. Read more