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Dateline: Copenhagen

Where the Future Will Be Written

The year 2009 will be pivotal for the future of Earth's climate. Scientists warn that the window of opportunity to reverse the rise in greenhouse gas emissions and avoid catastrophic climate change is rapidly closing.

All eyes are now on negotiations for the next major climate agreement, set to be finalized at the COP-15 (the Fifteenth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention) in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Dateline: Copenhagen is a resource for policymakers, nongovernmental organizations, businesspeople, journalists, educators and students interested in tracking the major developments that will shape these critical negotiations. Please visit our blog with up-to-date news and analysis on global developments leading up to Copenhagen, and a calendar of key meetings leading up to the December negotiations.

What is Copenhagen?

The Copenhagen meeting is the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). (The UNFCC, agreed to in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, established the framework under which climate agreements are negotiated.) The UNFCC process produced the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. During the Copenhagen conference, which is to be held in December 2009, government officials from 192 countries will meet to negotiate a new climate agreement for the post-2012 period.

Worldwatch's Contribution to the Copenhagen Process

Worldwatch Senior Researcher Janet Sawin is a Lead Author of the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy and Climate Change Mitigation, to be released in December 2010. In addition, she is working with IPCC colleagues to produce a report on the potential of renewable energy and energy efficiency to mitigate climate change. China Fellow Yingling Liu will contribute an annotated version of a report on renewable energy and energy efficiency in China, along with a reference guide on climate and energy policies in China. Worldwatch will also hold a series of outreach events in China, Europe, and the United States, before and after the Copenhagen conference, to advance developing country perspectives on climate issues. And Institute outlets-especially this web page, the Worldwatch listserve, and our E2 news service-will cover developments related to Copenhagen as they happen.

Additional Worldwatch Resources

Visit the State of the World 2009: Into a Warming World Resource Page

Worldwatch Climate and Energy Page

Worldwatch Special Focus: China

Worldwatch Special Focus: India

Read about the transition to a low-carbon energy system in Low-Carbon Energy: A Roadmap

Find out what role green-collar jobs will play in Green Jobs: Working for People and the Environment

Purchase the Climate Change Reference Guide, The one-stop resource of essential facts on Climate Change.