West Virginia University Honors College student and pre-international studies major Maria Panaccione is one of three delegates from the Girl Scouts of the USA attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The Morgantown native has joined approximately 15,000 participants from more than 192 countries representing their countries, schools and communities. At the conference, scheduled from Dec. 7-18, nations are working to seal a comprehensive and effective international climate change deal.

The highly anticipated COP15 is the largest international political conference ever to be held in Denmark. The conference signifies a historic event and has significant implications for how the world views and confronts climate change.

Danish Prime Minister Lars L�kke Rasmussen announced that at the conclusion of the conference, 110 heads of state and government will be in attendance. Rasmussen emphasized that climate change knows no borders when he said, “it does not discriminate, it affects us all.”

“And, we are here today because we are all committed to take action. That is our common point of departure – the magnitude of the challenge before us is to translate this political will into a strong political approach,” he added.

The 15th COP is the culmination of a meeting in Bali where the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed to generate a global deal in Denmark in 2009.
To read about Panaccione and her fellow Girl Scouts’ experiences, visit http://gsusaatcop15.blogspot.com/.

-WVU-
ml/12/14/09

CONTACT: Marie Leichliter, WVU Honors College
304-293-2100, Marie.Leichliter@mail.wvu.edu