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Negotiations to reach a global regime in order to tackle climate change are considered, by some analysts, “the most complex international negotiation ever attempted”. And indeed, fears that only a “half-baked deal” might be reached during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December are increasingly voiced publicly - with some observers expressing their concern about Copenhagen becoming a “second Doha” referring to the current and still stalling World Trade Organization’s negotiation round that had started in November 2001.

Regardless of whether an ambitious initiative to mitigate climate change effects may or may not be achieved at the COP15 summit, the process of adapting multiple policy areas to the changed living conditions on the planet will only just be at a starting point.

Development policy is one key area, since the least developed countries and the poorest populations are those who will be hit hardest by the consequences of climate change. In this context, this expert roundtable addressed the three following questions:

1. What are the sticking points in the ongoing negotiations and what challenges for the solidarity among developing countries will derive of the Copenhagen process?

2. What scenarios of “Southern” reactions to COP15 results can be envisaged?

3. In a long-term perspective: how can development policy be re-visited in order to face those new cross-cutting challenges?