SHARE:
submit to reddit
print



World leaders falling over themselves to show up at Copenhagen
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
December 01, 2009


If you’re a world leader and you won’t be in Copenhagen next week you might feel out of the loop. Currently 98 heads of state have agreed to attend the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen—nearly half of the 192 member nations of the UN.

"It gives me a strong feeling that we are on the right track," Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told a news conference today.

Invitations were sent out last month and the first count was 65 heads of state. But just last week the summit succeeded in committing arguably the two most important world leaders in terms of climate change to attend the summit: President of the United States, Barack Obama, and Premier of China, Wen Jiabao.

Even the Prince of Wales is showing to give a keynote speech during the summit's second week. Prince Charles is known for his passionate advocacy for environmental stewardship, in particular his work on saving rainforests worldwide.

Although the summit hasn’t released a list, other confirmed leaders attending include Prime Minister of the UK, Gordon Brown; President of France, Nicholas Sarkozy; German Chancellor Angela Merkel; and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, though he may receive a less-than-warm welcome. After China and the US have stepped forward, Canada is now seen as possibly the biggest obstruction to a positive deal.







Related articles

The US will set emissions target, but is this a turning point for success at Copenhagen?

(11/24/2009) Today may mark a turning point for a successful negotiation at the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen or it may just be another blip in the up-and-down news cycles that have preceded the summit for months.


Record year for CO2 emissions, even with economic slowdown

(11/17/2009) 8.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide was emitted into the earth's atmosphere in 2008, a growth of 2 percent despite the economic crisis. This averages out to each person contributing a record high of 1.3 tons of carbon, according to a report in the journal Nature Science. While the global recession slowed the growth of fossil fuel emissions for the first time this decade, it did not lower emissions altogether.


Holding the Global North Responsible for Climate Change: What Would Lord Russell Do?

(11/16/2009) If Lord Bertrand Russell were still alive today, he would most likely be appalled by the Global North’s glaring inaction on climate change. One of the twentieth century’s most eminent philosophers, Russell was also an outspoken critic of war and irrationality. In 1966, just as the United States was ramping up the war in Vietnam, Russell helped to establish a novel legal tribunal which condemned war crimes committed in South East Asia.




SHARE THIS ARTICLE:
print


Tags:
climate change United Nations europe united states obama administration and the environment china governance China's Environmental Problems impact of climate change Greening of China carbon emissions carbon dioxide climate change politics environment environmental politics green greenhouse gas emissions greenhouse gases happy-upbeat environmental jeremy hance global warming mitigation

CITATION:
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com (December 01, 2009). World leaders falling over themselves to show up at Copenhagen. http://news.mongabay.com/2009/1201-hance_leaders.html



News index | RSS | News Feed | Twitter | Home


Advertisements:


Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing




Mongabay Store
Wildlife of Madagascar T-shirt
Wildlife of Madagascar T-shirt
Bold and Dangerous - Pygmy tyrant t-shirts
Bold and Dangerous - Pygmy tyrant
Love me before I'm gone - Gladiator frog t-shirts
Love me before I'm gone - Gladiator frog
Licking this frog may make you crazy t-shirts
Licking this frog may make you crazy



MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)

CONTENTS
Rainforests
Tropical Fish
News
Madagascar
Pictures
Kids' Site
Languages
TCS Journal
About
Archives
Topics | RSS
Newsletter



WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Email:


Climate Change Communicator of the Year 2010

Mongabay has been nominated for Climate Change Communicator of the Year 2010 by George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication. Balloting runs through February 15. Be sure to vote!


INTERACT
Facebook
Contact
Twitter
Advertise
Photo Store
Help


SUPPORT
Help support mongabay.com when you buy from Amazon.com



POPULAR PAGES
Rainforests
Rain forests
Amazon deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation stats
Why rainforests matter
Saving rainforests
Deforestation stats
Rainforest canopy

News
Most popular articles
Worth saving?
Forest conservation
Earth Day
Poverty alleviation
Cell phones in Africa
Seniors helping Africa
Saving orangutans in Borneo
Palm oil
Amazon palm oil
Future of the Amazon
Cane toads
Dubai environment
Investing to save rainforests
Visiting the rainforest
Biomimicry
Defaunation
Blue lizard
Amazon fires
Extinction debate
Extinction crisis
Blackwashing
Industrial deforestation
Save the Amazon
Rainforests & REDD
Brazil's Amazon plan
Malaysian palm oil
Avatar story
New Guinea
Sulawesi
Amazon ranching
Madagascar
Borneo

News topics
Amazon
Biofuels
Brazil
Carbon Finance
Conservation
Climate Change
Deforestation
Energy
Happy-upbeat
Indonesia
Interviews
Oceans
Palm oil
Rainforests
REDD
Solutions
Wildlife
MORE TOPICS



Non-English Sites
Chinese
Farsi
French
German
Greek
Indonesian
Portuguese
Spanish
Other languages
GA_googleFillSlot("news_160x600_btf_right");

Photo sections
Argentina photos
Australia photos
Belize photos
Botswana photos
Brazil photos
Burma photos
Cambodia photos
China photos
Colombia photos
Costa Rica photos
Croatia photos
Deforestation photos
Frog photos
Gabon photos
Grand Canyon photos
Guatemala photos
Honduras photos
Iceland photos
India photos
Indonesia photos
Kenya photos
Laos photos
Lemur photos
Madagascar photos
Malaysia photos
Mexico photos
Monkey photos
New Zealand photos
Panama photos
Peru photos
Rainforest photos
Slovenia photos
Sunset photos
Suriname photos
Tanzania photos
Thailand photos
Uganda photos
United States photos
Venezuela photos





STORE

SHIRTS
HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOS / PRINTS


CALENDARS
  • Mount Kenya
  • East Africa Safari Wildlife
  • Kenya's Turkana People
  • Peru
  • African Wildlife
  • Alaska
  • China
  • Madagascar Chameleons


    CANVAS BAGS

  • Hallucinogenic frog bag
  • Madagascar wildlife bag








  • Copyright mongabay 2010