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Home > COP-15
In December 2009, the world’s governments met in Copenhagen, Denmark for "COP-15", the United Nations annual climate change conference. The conference followed up on the 2008 COP-14 meeting in Poznan, Poland.
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Click on the map above to find events that were held between December 11th and 14th.
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What progress has been achieved since Canada hosted the UN Climate Conference in Montreal in 2005?
The UN Climate Conference in Montreal in 2005 accomplished several important things. First and most importantly, concerted pressure from progressive governments and civil society prevented the Bush Administration from killing Kyoto after 2012. A similar effort saved it again at the 2006 conference in Nairobi, Kenya. The Montreal Conference also launched Kyoto Phase II. The “Article 3.9 decision” called for completion of negotiations for a new round of binding emission reduction targets for industrialized countries to ensure "no gap" between the end of the 1st commitment period (2008-2012) and the new one. This was a critical achievement. Why was the 2007 Conference important? In 2007, scientists on the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore for their efforts "to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change." The IPCC urgently recommended that world leaders and their policymakers take all necessary steps to ensure that average global greenhouse gas emissions peak no later than 2015 and then decline quickly afterwards. Scientists say if they fail to do this and average temperatures exceed the 2° mark, severe food shortages causing large scale human starvation, and mass species extinction of plants and animals, will certainly follow. The 2007 Conference Outcome For most of the 2007 conference in Bali, representatives of the Government of Canada, along with the United States and Japan, worked to oppose crucial elements of the Bali roadmap. During the conference, Canada was singled out by other countries and high-ranking UN officials for its obstructive behaviour. In virtual isolation at the end of the conference, Canada agreed not to block a weakened consensus agreement. The first phase of the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012. The agreement reached at Bali launched a two-year negotiation process for the post-2012 “Kyoto Phase 2”. In addition to setting a range of emission reduction targets for industrialized countries, the Bali roadmap contained commitments to negotiate actions to control emissions in developing countries; financial agreements for adaptation and the transfer of climate-friendly technology; and an agreement to tackle the problem of deforestation in developing countries. The 2008 Conference and Beyond As in Bali, the year before, Canada was singled out for being resistant to moving forward at the 2008 UN Climate Change conference in Poznan. Amongst other things, Canada managed to earn the “Colossal Fossil” award for being the most obstructive country at the 2008 negotiations and also placed next to last in an international comparison of countries’ climate change performance. If countries such as Canada are to avoid serious environmental and economic impacts from climate change, greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced dramatically. The IPCC conclusion is that reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions need to be 25 to 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. Canada's current minority government has a target of 20 per cent below 2006 levels by 2020, which is less than 3 per cent below 1990 levels. Also problematical, is the Harper government's failure to adequately address Canada's largest source of GHGs, the Alberta Tar Sands and their positioning of dangerous, non-sustainable energy sources (such as nuclear power) as part of the solution to climate change. In the October 2008 federal election, over 60 per cent of Canadians voted for parties that support much stronger greenhouse gas reduction targets. The Government of Canada needs to recognize and accept global scientific consensus on climate change and take a different approach. It can do this by not blocking progress in negotiations, embracing transparency, and openly and productively engaging civil society. One criteria for success will be if Canada and other countries can agree on timelines and a process for negotiating a strengthened post-2012 agreement at the 2009 conference in Copenhagen. Canada also needs to clearly demonstrate that it is making a "good faith" effort to meet its UN obligations. It can do this, in part, by endorsing a science-based target that is consistent with the IPCC conclusion (25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020) and by building on its recent commitment to support "Adaptation". (One bright spot in the Poznan talks was an agreement that makes the Kyoto Protocol’s Adaptation Fund operational. The purpose of the fund is to finance adaptation to climate change in developing countries.)
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