The President is scheduled to visit Copenhagen, Denmark, to attend the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) December 17-18.

The role of the Republic of Korea as a leader in international efforts to cope with climate change has attracted the global spotlight thus far. In this context, the Korean Government expects that President Lee''s participation as a head of state that will host the G-20 Summit will make a significant contribution to the Copenhagen Conference.

Considering several pending issues to be addressed within the country, President Lee will make his trip as short as possible. He will leave on the morning of December 17 with a delegation that will be reduced to the minimum.

Among the leaders to attend the conference are presidents and prime ministers from about 100 countries, including the United States, China, Japan, United Kingdom, France and Brazil, as well as heads of international organizations such as the United Nations.

At the summit, President Lee is planning to emphasize the nation''s plan to assume a leading role in dealing with climate change through various policy measures such as low-carbon, green growth. He will also urge participating leaders to carry out similar moves, which would be conducive to promoting national interests and prestige.

On November 17, Korea set its greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for the first time as a non-Annex I country. In a voluntary and unilateral move, the Republic will be committed to cutting carbon emissions by 30 percent from its business-as-usual (BAU) level forecast for 2020. As such, Korea has set a good example as one of leading nations in response to global environmental issues, thereby garnering positive responses from the international community and the foreign media.

Immediately after his arrival in Copenhagen, President Lee is scheduled to make a keynote speech at the summit where he will elaborate on the Korean Government''s diligent responses to climate change. The speech will most likely center on the need to voluntarily establish and carry out aggressive mid-term goals for carbon emissions reduction and the direction of implementation of green growth policies. Furthermore, he plans to propose a Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) Registry, which the Korean Government has been trying to persuade countries to adopt through several international negotiation channels.

As the chair of the G-20 summit scheduled late next year, President Lee will emphasize the importance for the forum of advanced economies to take up climate change as a priority issue and work closely among its members. On the sidelines of the Copenhagen summit, the Korean President plans to hold various bilateral and multilateral meetings with European leaders, which is expected to help expedite the ratification process of the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement.