The 15th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change opened on Monday, 7 December 2009. Concurrently with COP15, the 5th session of the Kyoto Protocol parties (CMP5) as well as sessions of Subsidiary Bodies and Ad Hoc Working Groups also take place in the Bella Centre.

 With the announcement of U.S. President Obama that he will attend toward the end of the conference, the whole discourse on the climate negotiations and the possibility of reaching a renewed international agreement shifted from a pessimistic to an optimistic note. Suddenly, the prospect of merely reaching a political declaration instead of sealing a binding deal was described by commentators as not such a bad result after all. A few days later, the leaking of the so-called Danish Text made the new-found spirit of optimism evaporate and brought the climate summit into disarray. The leaked text, to paraphrase outraged developing countries, is a blatant expression of rich countries covert machinations – within the so-called ”circle of commitment” - to shift the balance of obligations in their own favour and abandon the Kyoto Protocol’s principle of historical debt. Perhaps these lightning fast developments testify to the catastrophic nature, not so much of climate change itself, but rather of the ways in which it is being dealt with. The Danish COP15 organisers and the UNFCCC secretariat expect more than 15.000 delegates of the approximately 200 parties to the convention and the more than a thousand organisations admitted as observers. 14.000 are expected to be nominees of observer organisations alone while approximately 3500 journalists have been accredited to the conference. This means that the Bella Centre will be reaching its absolute maximum capacity should all participants decide to be present at the premises at the same time. The UNFCCC secretariat has announced that a system will be set up to monitor and regulate the participation of each organisation.
Outside of the conference venue itself, clustered around the city centre, numerous parallel events are taking place. On the North Atlantic Quay area, the Riddu Riddu Indigenous Peoples Festival has put up a huge laavu, i.e. a traditional Saami tent, that will serve as a venue for various events and performances, e.g., a Saami/Greenlandic group giving a performance that mixes Saami Joik singing with Greenlandic mask dancing. The Riddu Riddu Lavvu organizers invite Indigenous COP15 delegates to use the lavvu for their own events. If you are interested in using the Riddu Riddu Laavu for an event, you can contact and coordinate with the Indigenous Peoples Secretariat. In the adjacent North Atlantic Building, two exhibitions, ”In the Eye of Climate Change” and the ”Arctic Venue” organised by the Greenland Government and the Danish Energy Agency, respectively, will be open to the public during the COP period. Both of these events opens on Saturday, 12 December, while a closed preview of the former attended by his Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik will take place the day before that. In the DGI town near the main central station, the Peoples’ Climate Forum have organised an event that almost matches the COP itself with respect to extent of programme and number of participants. The outcome of the various workshops, panel discussions etc. that make up the PCF will be a declaration expressing the hopes, ideas, and visions of citizens groups and social movements from all corners of the planet. In one of the central city squares, Nytorv, WWF has set up their Arctic Tent which aims at giving the people of Copenhagen and COP delegates a taste of the Arctic by having scientists youth, Indigenous Peoples, politicians, artists, and adventurers present various views on the theme of Climate Change mitigation. From an Indigenous perspective, perhaps the busiest time will be the weekend in between the two COP weeks, in particular Saturday, 12 December. In addition to the above-mentioned activities on the North Atlantic Quay, the IWGIA/Tebtebba organized Indigenous Day panel discussion event will be held during daytime in the Danish National Museum, whereas in the evening of that same day, the Inuit Circumpolar Council will be hosting a side event, i.e. inside the COP15 venue in the Bella Centre, on Traditional Knowledge in Climate Change Decision Making.

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