For ten days in December, the Mexican resort of Cancún became the world capital of UN climate change negotiations. 15,000 delegates from governments, parliaments, businesses, academia, the scientific community and NGOs from 193 countries joined this year's UN Climate Change Conference or COP16/CMP6. They came to Cancún to take part in official sessions and countless informal discussions, social events and media presentations focused on one theme: how to avert catastrophic global warming.

When an international event of this scale and significance takes place, parliaments always expect the IPU to take the lead in bringing together the legislators who attend the UN Conference as part of their national delegations.  Responding to these expectations, the IPU and the Mexican Congress combined forces in holding a parliamentary meeting in Cancún on 6 December.

The COP16/CMP6 President, Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Patricia Espinosa, personally attended the Parliamentary Meeting to brief legislators on the state of play in the inter-governmental talks.  Her cautiously optimistic view of the chances of the UN Conference to adopt a substantive package of decisions proved to be well grounded: the subsequent Cancún Agreements gave the multilateral system a much-needed injection of confidence and laid the groundwork for technology developments to help both industrial and developing countries to deploy low-carbon energy.

When the MPs met, however, the outcome of the UN Climate Change Conference was far from clear.  The tensions of the inter-governmental talks taking place a few kilometers away were palpable in the Parliamentary Meeting as well.  At the end of a long day of animated discussions the 260 participants were relieved to adopt by consensus an outcome document stating their common position on the global threat.

The message from the Parliamentary Meeting could not be clearer: "Deep cuts in global emissions are consistent with scientific knowledge and can be implemented without compromising the right to development".  The outcome document stated unambiguously that members of parliament were determined to provide leadership in identifying and implementing a common response to the challenge of climate change.

At a special event held two days after the Parliamentary Meeting, IPU President Theo-Ben Gurirab transmitted the text of the outcome document to the COP16/CMP6 President.  "Our declaration is a call for climate action from members of parliament from around the world" said the IPU President.  Referring to the UN decision to hold the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 7th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP17/CMP7) in Durban, South Africa, at the end of 2011, he added "The IPU will take the lead in organizing and integrating an ever stronger and more effective parliamentary contribution to this important UN process".