Chaired by the former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson; UN Special Envoy and Former Prime Minister of Norway, Gro Harlem Brundtland; and the European Commission First Vice President, Institutional Relations and Communications Strategy, Margot Wallström, the Road to Copenhagen has reviewed the necessary drivers for ensuring a climate change agreement based on climate justice: human rights, technological diffusion, and the financial mechanisms to ensure fair burden sharing.

“Copenhagen must mark a paradigm shift, away from ‘us versus them’ and towards a ‘One Earth’ future,” Mary Robinson noted at the final Road to Copenhagen conference held in Malmö, Sweden on 8-9 December 2009. “This historic conference must deliver on the human dimension of climate change, build on the principles of burden sharing and ‘polluters pay’, and on improved access to adequate, sustainable technology and predictable financial resources for developing countries to be able to ensure mitigation and adaptation.” The shared vision expressed at the conference is for long-term cooperation encompassing respect for human rights and gender equality in any future agreement.

The communiqué emerging from the Road to Copenhagen process was delivered directly to policy-makers via the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretary General and top climate official, Yvo de Boer.

Receiving the communiqué from Gro Harlem Brundtland, de Boer underlined that the work Road to Copenhagen organisers have done is important, as “politicians in no country can advance on the topic if they don’t have the support of their people, companies and parliamentarians.” He recommended delivering the communiqué to the heads of state and senior officials taking part in the COP15 process.

The Road to Copenhagen proceedings and debates can be seen here.

The final press conference at Bella Centre with delivery of the communiqué is available here.