Climate Change and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
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The BirdLife Partnership believes any global deal agreed in Copenhagen must address our 5 asks.
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Why is UNFCCC COP 15 important?
2009 is a major year for climate change policy. A new agreement is being negotiated which is scheduled to be finalised by the Conference of Parties (COP) in Copenhagen in December 2009. It is a major opportunity for Governments to sign up to a legally binding agreement to address emission reductions and adaptation to climate change.
However in Barcelona, towards the end of the last UNFCCC intergovernmental pre-meeting before Copenhagen, some countries suggested that a full, legally binding treaty on tackling climate change could not be signed in Copenhagen. Instead, they proposed that a political agreement, possibly with a timetable setting out the path to a full international treaty, would be the most that was achievable. BirdLife continues to advocate for a legally binding enforceable agreement to be signed at Copenhagen. The evidence on the financial crisis, when world leaders were able to address a complex issue and mobilise trillions of dollars within days, shows that this is perfectly possible. What is required is continuing political investment in the process.
What is BirdLife doing?
BirdLife has an active policy and advocacy programme addressing many major aspects of these discussions. See BirdLife’s Climate Change Position adapted June 2008 for further background.
Some BirdLife Partners are working nationally to influence government policy and positions. Internationally, BirdLife actively engages with UNFCCC meetings.
About 70 individuals from 19 BirdLife Partners from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Pacific will be in Copenhagen.
Partners will work on different aspects of the climate change agenda in Copenhagen – which will address mitigation, adaptation, capacity building, technology transfer and finance.
To see BirdLife's Five Asks from the UNFCCC COP15 in Copenhagen click here (PDF 160KB) for the full version or click here for the summary (PDF 127KB).
Contact us
Email: Melanie Heath melanie.heath@birdlife.org
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