Copenhagen Climate Change Summit 2009

Between December 7 and December 18, 2009, world leaders met in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change and the 5th Meeting of the Parties (COP/MOP 5) to the Kyoto Protocol. A framework for international climate change mitigation as a successor to the Kyoto Protocol after 2012 was to be agreed upon there.

As officials had warned, the conference did not bring about a binding agreement as a roadmap for climate change action following the years after the Kyoto Protocol. It was rather marked by non-legal, half-hearted commitments and characterised by the stand-off of the participating parties rather than a combined effort to tackle the issue at hand.

The Copenhagen Accord was drafted by the US, China, India, Brazil and South Africa on December 18, and judged a "meaningful agreement" by the United States government. It was "taken note of", but not "adopted", in a debate of all the participating countries the next day, and it was not passed unanimously. The document recognised that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of the present and that actions should be taken to keep any temperature increases to below 2°C. Among other commitments, the Copenhagen Accord endorses the succession of the Kyoto protocol. However, as it is neither legally binding nor will it bring about any true results, many countries and non-governmental organisations were opposed to this agreement.

The conference was accompanied by protests across the world, with a big march of up to 100,000 protesters being held in Copenhagen on December 12th calling for a global agreement on climate change. Activism reached a stage that required heavy involvement of the police, calling it the 'biggest police action ever seen in Danish history'. A number of marches and countermovements were also seen across Europe, Australia and other parts of the world.

On December 16, two days before the conclusion of the summit, it was reported that no meaningful progress had been made. Therefore it came as a suprise that Copenhagen Accord was drafted and agreed upon on the 18th by the leading countries United States, India, China, South Africa and Brazil. And while the agreement is viewed as a milestone in history, no serious action is thought to result from it. The deal will certainly not be enough to mitigate dangreous climate change. However, it is a beginning, and we can only hope that further action will be taken soon - very soon.