Countdown to Copenhagen Climate Change Conference
As the year comes to an end, 2009 is still a crucial year in the international effort to address climate change. A series of high level meetings are taking place throughout the year, designed to agree an ambitious and effective international response to climate change, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) in Copenhagen, from the 7th to the 18th of December 2009.
The main aim of the climate conference is to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, the first international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At recent informal climate change talks in Bonn in August 2009, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer stressed that; “a climate deal in Copenhagen this year is an unequivocal requirement to stop climate change from slipping out of control”.
Ireland will be represented at the Copenhagen talks by experts from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and relevant government departments such as the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government. The EPA will provide progress on the Copenhagen talks on our climate change webpages to keep you up to date on these crucial international negotiations.
Barcelona talks
The last negotiating session before the Copenhagen conference was held in Barcelona, Spain from the 2nd to the 6th of November. The meeting in Barcelona follows on the UN Climate Change Talks in Bangkok (28 September to 9 October), which saw increasing convergence, streamlining of negotiating text and narrowing down of options for a comprehensive, fair and effective international climate change deal.
Check out the progress from the Barcelona talks
Source: www.epa.ie
