Climate negotiations:

Over 100 Heads of State at Copenhagen

Wasantha RAMANAYAKE in Copenhagen

World leaders addressed the high segment of the UN Climate Summit as Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen assumed the Presidency of the High segment of the negotiations at Bella Centre in Copenhagen.

According to a statement issued by UNFCCC an unprecedented number of Heads of States have started to arrive in Copenhagen to participate in climate negotiations. The Danish Prime Minister from the beginning of the High-Level Segment has taken chair as President of the Conference.

It said the Danish Prime Minister has appointed Minister Connie Hedegaard, the former Summit President as his special representative who would continue conducting informal consultations to the CopenHagen outcome.

The release quoting the Prime Minister added that 115 Heads of State and government have decided to participate in the conference at this level which is usually participated by Environment Ministers and some heads of states.

"This historical will to address the climate challenge is the strongest possible driver for a global agreement. The final negotiations will be tense and strenuous. I have therefore asked Minister Connie Hedegaard to continue to negotiate the Copenhagen outcome with her colleagues," said Rasmussen.

However, the negotiators were surprised by the change of the presidency. Some media reported that it was preplanned. The negotiations started yesterday on a highly tensed note with demonstrators threatening to storm into the summit venue. Police have beefed up security and arrested protesters. Bella Centre Metor station and several roads around the centre too were closed. The high segment of climate conference in Copenhagen ceremonially launched on Tuesday by UN Secretary General Banki Moon appealed to world leaders to grab the rare chance to change the course of history.

The Secretary General emphasized that the evidence of climate change "assault us" in the form of melting ice caps, advancing deserts, and rising sea levels.