What was happening in Copenhagen 2009?

The United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009, also known as the Copenhagen Summit or COP 15, was a major climate change conference that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, between December 7 and December 18, 2009.

The conference brought together the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), with the goal of achieving a comprehensive global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The conference was notable for its high level of anticipation and the widespread hope that it would succeed in reaching a significant agreement on climate change. However, after intense negotiations, the conference concluded with only a non-binding agreement, known as the Copenhagen Accord, which was not adopted by all of the parties to the UNFCCC.

Among the key points of the Copenhagen Accord were the following:

- A goal of limiting the increase in global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

- A commitment from developed countries to provide $30 billion in fast-start funding for climate change mitigation and adaptation in developing countries between 2010 and 2012, with a goal of reaching $100 billion per year by 2020.

- A recognition that the actions taken under the agreement would be subject to domestic political processes.

The Copenhagen Accord has been criticized for its non-binding nature and for not including sufficiently ambitious targets for emissions reductions. However, it also marked an important step in the international negotiations on climate change, as it represented the first time that the major emitting countries had agreed to a common goal and to providing financial support to developing countries for climate action.

The Copenhagen Accord ultimately paved the way for the Paris Agreement, which was adopted in 2015 and entered into force in 2016, representing a major breakthrough in the global efforts to address climate change.