PARLIAMENTARY MEETING ON THE OCCASION OFTHE UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCECopenhagen, 16 December 2009Dear Madam President,Dear Mr. President,Further to my advance information note of 20 March 2009, I am writing to invitemembers of your parliament who are attending the fifteenth session of the Conference of theParties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (also known asCOP15) to participate in the Parliamentary Meeting organized by the IPU and the DanishParliament (Folketing) on 16 December 2009.As you know, the United Nations Climate Change Conference takes place inCopenhagen, from 7 to 18 December 2009. This event will be the culmination of a longprocess of negotiations which aim at reaching agreement on a comprehensive and effectiveinternational response to climate change. The political stakes are high for the future ofhumanity and the IPU encourages all parliaments to make sure that they are represented onthe national delegations attending the event, particularly towards the end of the Conferencewhen Ministers will lead the final negotiations.The Meeting in the Danish Parliament on 16 December will provide parliamentarianswith an opportunity to obtain first-hand information on the main issues and orientations ofCOP15 and to interact with government negotiators directly involved in the Conferencedecision-making process. An important outcome of the Parliamentary Meeting will be to agreeupon a strategy to ensure effective parliamentary action on climate change, including thespeedy implementation of the outcome of COP15.I would like to underline that it is essential that members of your Parliament whointend to travel to Copenhagen for COP15 are included in your country's official delegation tothe United Nations Climate Change Conference. Only persons duly accredited to COP15through their national delegations or as observers will be able to enter the Bella Centre wherethe intergovernmental Conference will be held. Please note that the

IPU and the Danish

Folketing are not in a position to facilitate accreditation to COP15

and

cannot provide

Schengen visa support

for entry into Denmark. These matters should be dealt with by eachdelegation individually, as part of the overall COP15 accreditation procedure.

Likewise, hotel accommodation in Copenhagen at the time of COP15 is subject tosevere restrictions and is practically unavailable to persons who are not accredited to theintergovernmental Conference as delegates or observers. As many as 8,000 persons areexpected to attend. To lodge all these guests in Copenhagen, the hosts have pre-booked thequasi-totality of hotel rooms within a radius of 60 km of the Conference Centre. For thisreason, the

organizers of the Parliamentary Meeting cannot provide hotel accommodation

in Copenhagen.

We would expect all parliamentary delegates to use the official COP15 hotelbooking service instead.The Parliamentary Meeting will be open to all members of parliament who are presentin Copenhagen at the time of COP15 and are accredited to the intergovernmental Conferencewith a valid COP15 identity badge. This badge will allow entry to the premises of the DanishParliament.If, for one reason or another, a parliamentary delegate does not have a COP15 badge,a special one-day "Parliamentary Meeting" badge will be issued on the spot. This badge will bevalid for the meeting at the Folketing but will not allow access to the Bella Centre. Delegatesrequiring a "Parliamentary Meeting" badge should inform the IPU Secretariat by 15 November2009 at the latest, using the enclosed registration form, also available on the IPU website(http://www.ipu.org/splz-e/cop15.htm).Further details about the Parliamentary Meeting on the occasion of COP15 can befound in the enclosed practical information note. The provisional programme will be postedon the IPU website closer to the date of the Meeting.I sincerely hope that members of your parliament will take part in COP15 inCopenhagen and will also attend the Parliamentary Meeting on 16 December. We lookforward to receiving their names in due course.Yours sincerely,