Open Access

Wolfgang Sterk

• The fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the fifth Conference of the Parties serving as Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 5) took place on 7–18 December 2010 in Copenhagen. According to the "Bali Action Plan", the "roadmap" of the negotiations agreed at COP 13/CMP 3 in Bali in 2007, the Copenhagen conference was to deliver a comprehensive agreed outcome on the future climate regime. Meeting this deadline was of urgency not only because of the ever more alarming messages from climate science, but also because the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. As ratification of a new agreement can be expected to take at least twoThe fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the fifth Conference of the Parties serving as Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 5) took place on 7–18 December 2010 in Copenhagen. According to the "Bali Action Plan", the "roadmap" of the negotiations agreed at COP 13/CMP 3 in Bali in 2007, the Copenhagen conference was to deliver a comprehensive agreed outcome on the future climate regime. Meeting this deadline was of urgency not only because of the ever more alarming messages from climate science, but also because the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. As ratification of a new agreement can be expected to take at least two years, a timely agreement on post-2012 emission targets is needed to prevent a "gap" after 2012. Expectations were high as more than 100 Heads of State and Government had announced their attendance and more than 40,000 participants had registered their names. However, despite a record number of five preparatory meetings over the course of 2009, the fundamental differences between Parties proved to be too difficult to overcome. The main outcome of the conference, the "Copenhagen Accord", is only a political declaration, and even this declaration was not supported by all countries. In addition, Parties agreed to continue negotiations into 2010.…