What's Copenhagen all about? 
Through the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, countries around the world have acknowledged the risks from climate change and rich nations have agreed to modest reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions by 2008-12. More ...
The UN Copenhagen Summit is all about what happens beyond 2012 and crucially to negotiate emission reductions for both developed and developing countries. It is vital that worldwide emission reductions are agreed in Copenhagen to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
The science is clear - climate change is real
The science is clear: the climate is warming and climate change is set to get worse unless we take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
While there is uncertainty, it's clear that further warming of as little as two degrees Celsius globally would mean very serious impacts around the world. There could be hundreds of millions of people at risk of water shortage, millions at risk from coastal flooding, reduced crop yields in developing countries and more than a third of the world's wildlife at increased risk of extinction.
Learn more about the scientific facts about climate change.
Avoiding the most serious impacts The world can only prevent the most serious impacts by reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. To have a reasonable chance of keeping further warming below two degrees C, for example, would need substantial cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions. The longer the world waits to take action to reduce emissions, the more drastic the reductions will need to be.
In Copenhagen countries from around the world will try to agree greenhouse gas emission reduction targets beyond 2012. Adaptation to climate change is as vital as mitigation
Another key message from the science is that we can't avoid climate change altogether. Warming of 2 degrees C still means substantial impacts on food, water, health and biodiversity - especially in developing countries.
The world's response to climate change needs to be a combination of adaptation (coping with climate change) and mitigation (actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions).
Adaptation will be high on the agenda at Copenhagen - the key issue being how it will be financed.
To inform decisions on adaptation we need more information about changes in regional climate and extreme events (such as floods and storms) and about climate over the next 5 to 20 years, rather than looking out to 2050 or 2100. Forecasting climate for the next 5 to 20 years and improving information about regional detail and extreme events are both particular areas of expertise of scientists at the Walker Institute.
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