A global deal on climate change: the challenges between now and December in Copenhagen

Summary of presentations at a symposium in the House of Lords on 27 October 2009

The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen in December 2009 seeks to agree to an international framework on climate change policy to take effect after the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012. It is predicted to bring the UNFCCC process into mainstream discussion.

Two months prior in October 2009, Lord Stern of the Grantham Research Institute for Climate Change and the Environment convened a symposium for parliamentarians to discuss the challenges to reaching a global deal on climate policy. In association with the All-Party Climate Change Group and chaired by the Lord Speaker, four Members of Parliament and the House of Lords presented opinions from their work on the topic, and what needs to be satisfied to make COP15 a success. This policy paper summarises their key points of discussion.