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The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP 15) opens today. More than 15.000 participants are expected to attend the two-week conference, which will be a turning point in the fight to prevent climate disaster.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Danish government for its generous invitation to host this fifteenth United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and the enormous commitment and work it has shown to make it a success. The time for climate action is now, at Copenhagen.
Yvo de Boer
UNFCCC Executive Secretary

Press briefing on the eve of the opening of COP 15

At a pre-conference press briefing held in Copenhagen, Yvo de Boer called Copenhagen “a turning point on the road to a safe climate future.”
He referred to the almost daily announcements by countries of new targets or plans of action to cut emissions as “simply unprecedented,” and urged governments to give a strong and long-term response to the urgent challenge of climate change.
Governments must deliver fast and effective implementation on adaptation, technology and capacity-building for developing countries; ambitious commitments to cut and limit emissions, as well as both start-up funding and a long-term funding commitment; and a shared vision on a low-emissions future for all.
The Kyoto Protocol, he said, is the only legally binding instrument we have to address climate change, and the vast majority of countries want it to continue. They also want to build an approach under the Convention that encompasses the United States, and that allows for both immediate financing and the engagement of developing countries.