The 15th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, attended by 119 world leaders, which represents the largest gathering of heads of states and governments in the history of the UN, ended on 19 December in Copenhagen, Denmark. As announced by Mr. Yvo de Boer, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, an agreement has been reached which contains significant elements, but which at the same time is not legally binding. He described the agreement as ‘politically important,’ demonstrating a willingness to move forward.
The main challenge of the following year is to turn what was agreed into something that is legally binding. Namely, the leaders from a number of states representative of a particular region and negotiation groups who were involved in the work of the informal Working Group chaired by the Danish Prime Minister Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, compiled a compromise text – ‘the Copenhagen Accord’. However, several developing countries protested against the manner in which the Copenhagen Accord was presented to the media before it was presented the representatives of the parties, and demanded that the said accord be introduced into negotiations only as a proposal by a certain number of countries. Therefore, it would not any longer represent a negotiation text. In the negotiations led by Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary-General, it was agreed that the Accord would be adopted by a Conference of the Parties (COP) decision, which registered it as an unofficial document. It was decided that the Parties which accept the Copenhagen Accord will be listed beneath the title itself. The UNFCCC Secretary is responsible for establishing a formal procedure for adoption of this document, while Mexico, as the host nation of the next UNFCCC Conference which shall take place in December 2010, is responsible for organising the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol and Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention in order to complete negotiations and adopt decisions regarding the post-Kyoto period at the abovementioned Conference.
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