COP15 is over, when is COP16?

The UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) sponsored COP15 ended in Copenhagen, Denmark on December 19, 2009. The resulting Copenhagen Accord was a loose political agreement, just empty promises on a page to reduce emissions, cap temperature rise, and raise financing. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon remarked, "We have sealed the deal....This accord cannot be everything that everyone hoped for, but it is an essential beginning." Pessimism and skepticism has marred the climate change political landscape as people around the world have become less concerned over the issue. Skeptics will ask: "Does this debate need to continue. There is no climate change." Pessimists will ask, "When will we see a real legally-binding global agreement on climate change?" The last question remains to be answered, but the next step forward in global climate change negotiations will be more conferences, sessions, and the big COP16.

According to the UNFCCC website, the next global climate change conference sessions are : AWG-KP 11 (Eleventh session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol) and AWG-LCA 9 (Ninth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention). These will take place in Bonn, Germany from April 9-11, 2010. As it can be seen, the sessions are named in a manner to help organization for politicians and historians. How high these session numbers will go (session 50 would be around the year 2050) is anyone's guess. A more comprehensive conference, the Bonn Climate Change Talks will be held from May 31 to June 11, 2010 in Bonn, Germany. This will be the warm up conference to COP16.

COP16 is the main climate change conference of the year that will be held in Cancun, Mexico from November 29 to December 10, 2010. Currently the official website to COP16 is a simple text message: "Website of The 16th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United to The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNDER CONSTRUCTION."

Continually under construction is the issue of climate change. In literally a span of 30 years climate change has gone from hypothesis to proven fact, back to hypothesis. The science has been built up over several decades to be dismantled in several weeks. What other science has gone through such incredible highs (Nobel Prizes all around) to such incredible lows (Climategate accusations of scientific misconduct)? What other science has the power to align the calls to action from the leader of the free world to the leader of terrorism? What other science can strike up new legislation that has large corporations acting to both comply (with a future carbon economy) and lobby against it. The issue of climate change is continually under construction and with it the many needed climate change conferences, like COP16 - good luck in Mexico.

Photo Credit: L'Ecolier