Under the World Wide Views on Global Warming project funded by the government of Denmark, the host country of the conference, each country should gather the voices of 200,000 citizens to discuss climate change issues.

Simultaneous consultation events will be held by gathering 100,000 citizens in Jakarta and Makassar on Sept. 26, project officer for Indonesia, Ipung Purwandono, said.

“Most of the selected participants are from grass-roots levels, such as farmers and fishermen, who are believed to be the group most prone to impacts of climate change,” Ipung said.

The organizer has trained 40 people who will later discuss issues of climate change with program participants.

Lately, climate change issues have now become the most widely discussed environmental issue, because of the severe impacts of global warming threatening the lives of billions of people across the globe.

“Citizens of the world will have to live with global warming, so they should be consulted before political decision-makers negotiate about it in Copenhagen,” Foundation for Environmental Partnership Fund (DML) chief executive Kemal Taruc said.

The project aims to maximize citizens’ involvement in debates on key questions of relevance to the forthcoming climate policy, he said.

Negotiators from 190 countries are scheduled to gather in Copenhagen from Dec. 7 to Dec. 18, to discuss a new climate regime to replace the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012.

The Kyoto Protocol requires rich nations to cut emissions by 5 percent from 1990 levels.

However, many have expressed doubts with the upcoming meeting, since many developing and developed countries have not reached a consensus on emissions reduction targets yet.

The United States wanted emerging countries like China to also have binding targets on emission cuts, but its proposal was rejected by China.

The increasing volume of greenhouse gas emissions has changed the Earth’s atmospheric composition, resulting in increasing global temperatures that cause sea levels to rise, scientists say.

The climate conference would also discuss mitigation, adaptation, technology transfer and finance issues surrounding climate change.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has urged all countries to work hard to reach emissions reduction targets.

“Regardless of various efforts, there is no guarantee that in Copenhagen developed and developing nations will succeed in reaching a new consensus on the post-2012 climate regime,” Yudhoyono said during the state speech to commemorate Indonesia’s 64th annual Independence Day.

He said Indonesia would continue serving as a bridge to build the new consensus.

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