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A Clear Message from World Citizens to COP15 Politicians

Saturday 26, 2009, 38 countries on 5 continents participated in the first global citizen consultation under the headline: World Wide Views on Global Warming. The topic was global climate change and
the message from the citizens to the political negotiators was clear: We do not have time to wait any longer!

In Denmark citizens from all over the country spent their Saturday at Copenhagen City Hall, where the Danish citizen meeting took place. Citizens in Denmark answered the same questions as they did in
Bangladesh, Canada, China, Mozambique, and all the other countries that participated. One of the clearest statements from all countries deals with urgency: 90% of the citizens answered that it is urgent that the
political leaders reach a global agreement at COP15.

Ms. Connie Hedegaard, host of COP15 and Danish Minister of Climate and Energy, says: ”World Wide Views has given us politicians a unique insight into the views of ordinary citizens from all corners of the world on the climate crisis. And it is a strong signal to the politicians, when citizens all over the world agree that action is urgent. It underlines the importance of reaching a good and ambitious agreement in Copenhagen this December.”

Drastic Demands from Citizens to CO2 Reductions
In all types of countries, rich and poor as well as new growing economies, there is a majority in favour of a higher level of ambitions regarding CO2 reductions, than what you see in the political discussions at the
moment. Politicians talk about a CO2 reduction just below 25%, but a remarkable majority in rich countries and new growing economies say that they themselves should reduce emissions by 25-40% or more. The same tendency is clear when looking at questions on how much the global temperature can rise; politicians talk about setting the limit at maximum 2 degrees Celsius. But 52% of the responding citizens go as far as to say that the limit should be lowered even further.

In their own words
World Wide Views on Global Warming is the so far largest citizen consultation, and the Danish Board of Technology is behind it. Citizens responded to 12 questions on future climate policy, and all results are
available on results.wwviews.org. Here you can also see the recommendations that the citizens wrote at the end of each meeting. In Denmark the recommendation to the politicians said: “Reduce greenhouse gasses NOW! Make sure that all countries accede to an agreement about reducing greenhouse gasses. Strengthen research on sustainable energy sources. Introduce taxes on fossil fuel. Taxes should go to a global climate fund.” See recommendation from all countries here.

In the forthcoming weeks, the global result from the 38 citizen meetings will be analyzed and collected in a report, which will be handed over to politicians in Copenhagen on November 19, 2009. And even though the
results are addressed to political leaders, who will participate in COP15 this December, politicians at all political levels will be able to use them in their work towards a better environment:

Mr. Klaus Bondam, Mayor of the Technical and Environmental Administration in Copenhagen and host of the
Danish meeting, says: “It is important for me to get the opportunity to know what citizens feel and think about our climate. All of us have to contribute to finding solutions to climate challenges; only then can we make a difference. With the result from World Wide Views, we politicians have a clear message on which way they wish to go. And I will forward that message to my colleagues all over the world.”

You find the Danish results as well as global results on here

Press release, 27th. sept. 2009
See photos and videos from the participating countries on (Username:
WWVpress, password: 269pressDown)

For any further information, contact to participating citizens, and questions, please contact:

Camilla Jensen from Nissen & Co. on e-mail: cje@nissenco.dk or phone: 33 36 30 20 / 6061 7216

Jørgen Madsen from The Danish Board of Technology on e-mail: jm@tekno.dk or phone: 3345 5363
Attached picture: Ms. Connie Hedegaard initiating the Danish meeting

(Photographer: Jakob Carlsen),
Citizens deliberating intensely in India (Photographer: World Wide Views on Global Warming)

Last update: 15-10-2009

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Ms. Connie Hedegaard, host of COP15 and Danish Minister of Climate and Energy, is opening the Danish WWViews-meeting.

A WWViews-meeting in India similar to all the other 45 meetings in 38 countries.