UN climate conference stakeholders launch initiative to increase sustainability of the event

Six key organisations involved in the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15), taking place in Denmark’s capital in December, have set up a consortium to increase the sustainability of this and other large international meetings.

Under the name of the Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Protocol, the partners have joined forces to capture, share and improve on their learnings and experiences in preparing Copenhagen for COP15. They have two main aims:
• To contribute to accelerating the transformation of the global meetings industry through sustainability
• To further enhance Copenhagen and Denmark’s position as a prime host destination for sustainable meetings

The Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Protocol is being established as a flexible umbrella framework that can be used to organise complex, multi-stakeholder meetings in a sustainable way. It will aim to integrate local and international sustainability initiatives, standards, systems and certification programmes, and plans to act as a guide for good leadership and active engagement of key stakeholders in large meetings.

This initiative has been championed by leaders from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, VisitDenmark (the national tourism and meetings organisation), the City of Copenhagen, Wonderful Copenhagen Convention & Visitors bureau, leading pharmaceutical corporation Novo Nordisk, and professional conference organiser and sustainability consultants MCI Group.

This consortium recognises that COP15 represents a unique opportunity to show that the biggest, most prestigious events can be organised in a sustainable way. It is the project partners hope, that the Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Protocol will serve as reference to spark sustainable development internationally. 

The protocol is scheduled for completion in February 2010. 

For further information about the Copenhagen Sustainable Meetings Protocol, contact Lars Blicher-Hansen at VisitDenmark, lbh@visitdenmark.com

For more details about the UN climate change conference, visit www.cop15.dk