Sixty-five world leaders have already said they will attend the Copenhagen climate summit next month, and several more have responded positively to invitations, Danish officials announced yesterday (22nd November).  Those who will attend Copenhagen include the leaders of Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Spain and the United Kingdom.  

 

In a letter to Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen (PDF), formally confirming that he will attend, Gordon Brown has warned world leaders that they 'cannot afford to fail' to strike a substantial deal in Copenhagen next month.

 

The Prime Minister said the summit had to mark a 'decisive global shift' towards tackling the problem and urged other leaders to follow his example, stressing that their presence would send an 'important signal'. In the letter, Mr Brown writes 'I am pleased that the European Union has now set out its conditional offers for Copenhagen on both mitigation and finance'.

 

'I strongly welcome the ambitious announcements which a number of countries have made in recent weeks, such as those by Japan, Indonesia, Brazil and the Republic of Korea, adding to others already made'.

 

'I hope and believe other countries will follow their example over the next few weeks'. 'I believe these decisions are a clear sign of growing international momentum for an ambitious, fair and effective agreement in Copenhagen.' He added: 'I am committed to doing everything in my power to secure an agreement that marks the decisive global shift towards combating climate change'. 'I believe all leaders have a responsibility to come together at Copenhagen to do this. We cannot afford to fail.'

 

In a press conference on Sunday, Lars Lokke Rasmussen stated 'This shows that heads of state and government are ready to fly in, realizing that the political momentum is pointing towards Copenhagen as the place...to address the outstanding issues so we can conclude an ambitious deal,' he said. 'To cut through the outstanding issues and make an ambitious deal, then the active involvement of heads of state and government is crucial.'

 

In his response, Gordon Brown also highlighted that 'The Copenhagen agreement must allow for immediate implementation of its provisions, while also including a clear commitment to convert the agreement into an internationally legally binding treaty as soon as possible'. He will hold talks with Commonwealth leaders at a summit in Trinidad and Tobago later this week.  

 

Related links

Letter to Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen (PDF 122.48KB)

Copenhagen climate summit: 60 world leaders to attend, BBC News 23 November 2009

Copenhagen conference attracts world leaders, United Nations 22 November 2009

Brown warns over Copenhagen failure, Google 22 November 2009

Denmark: 65 world leaders for UN climate summit, Google 22 November 2009