The United Nations Conference on Climate Change
being held in New Delhi has exceeded the expectations in terms
of participation. While the UN Climate Change Convention Secretariat
officially stated that about 3,000 participants will be attending
the COP-8 in New Delhi, the number of registered participants
has already crossed 4,900. Delegates from about 175 countries
are attending the conference. In terms of media interest also,
the participation has over shot the expectations. While the UN
Climate Change Convention Secretariat has requested the host country
India to provide facilities for media persons in the range of
500 to 700, the number of registered media persons from India
and abroad has already crossed 720.
The highest ever participation was in COP-3 held
in Kyoto, Japan in 1997 when the Kyoto Protocol was adopted. 9,850
participants attended the Kyoto Conference. Participation in New
Delhi Conference is more than that of in COP-7 held at Marrakech,
Morocco last year in which 4,460 delegates and media participated.
To compliment the official negotiations at COP-8,
New Delhi, 42 exhibits and 83 special events are being organised
on topics which mirror the focus of negotiation. 22 special events
are focussed on the clean development mechanism (CDM) while the
other important topics are mitigation, vulnerability and adaptation
underlining the focus of COP-8, with a particular focus on Asia.
The high level ministerial segment will be inaugurated
by the Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee on October 30,
2002. The turn out of participants including media persons is
expected to further increase towards the high level segment.
