Day four of the Copenhagen Summitt and 11,000 participants have already registered for COP15 at  Bella Centre in Copenhagen. To register, participants have to have been previously approved by the UN. Next week, world leaders will make their appearance. There is room for 15,000 in the Bella Centre, yet this isn't the only place in Copenhagen where climate action is on the books. Tens of thousands of people concerned about climate change and global warming are converging in Copenhagen for discussions outside COP15.   Some reports estimate 40,000 visitors to Copenhagen for activities related to the summit.

Today, Kumi Nadoo, TckTckTck campaign organizer and Executive Director of Greenpeace International, in a session sponsored by ICLEI -- an international organization of cities working for sustainability, predicted a turn out of 50,000 people two days from now in the COP15 host city. The message to be delivered from this and the 5,000 events scheduled around the world on Saturday December 12th is straightforward: "The World Wants a Real Deal."

In the conference centre, intensely focused TckTckTck organizers are mounting the campaign from their wireless laptops.

Youth are highly visible here. Today there were 1,000 young people in orange t-shirts with "Don't Bracket Our Future" blazoned across the front, supporting small island states and offering commentary.

A daily media highlight for the summit are the  Fossil of the Day awards given by the Climate Action Network to "countries that do their best to block progress."    The lead Fossil on day four is Poland, winning for blocking the EU's emissions reduction target upgrade to 30 per cent from 20 per cent. Canada made the list the first day (and twice since) and now is tied for the most Fossil points.

Also outside of the formal proceedings, the  World Wide Views on Global Warming project  today laid  out policy recommendations "from the world's citizens to the climate policy makers." Co-ordinated by the Danish Board of Technology, the  recommendations were  generated in daylong meetings held September 26, 2009 by 4,000 citizens in 38 countries. Recommendations include a deal in Copenhagen rather than waiting untill later and a global temperature increase kept below two degrees Celsius. Also recommended are commitments from developed countries for 25 to 40 per cent reductions by 2020 and  emissions targets for low-income developing countries. Citizens in the project felt there should be punishment for countries that do not meet their commitments.

In the meantime today's issue of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin reports that Tuvalu --the southwest Pacific Ocean country formerly known as Ellice Islands -- and the world's fourth smallest country with a total area of 10 square miles, caused buzzing in the corridors yesterday with a call for a new legally-binding document.  The Bulletin reports that "Tuvalu’s call for a new legally binding instrument has roused significant civil society backing. When returning to the plenary in the afternoon, delegates had to pass through a vocal crowd shouting their support for the proposal." Tuvalu called for a suspension of the plenary, which was granted for informal discussions.

Charley Beresford, executive director of the Columbia Institute, arrived in Copenhagen December 9th, where she is observing the climate change discussions at COP15. Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have met annually since the establishment of the UNFCCC in Rio de Janero in 1992. The meetings are called a Conference of the Parties and the Copenhagen meeting is the 15th . From December 7th through 18th, the world is focused on COP 15 in Denmark, looking for a global deal on climate change following the KYOTO agreement, which runs out in 2012.

Possible outcomes from the Copenhagen summit:

-- a comprehensive deal with all loose ends tied up

-- a deal agreeing the "big picture", but with lots of details remaining to be thrashed out over the coming months or years

-- adjournment of the COP, probably until midway through 2010

-- breakdown

A number of developed countries and blocs have set targets for cutting their emissions, some of which depend on what other countries do. The EU, for example, will cut emissions by 20 per cent from 1990 levels -- but if there is a global deal, that will rise to 30 per cent. Some developing nations have also pledged to reduce the rate at which their emissions are growing. If implemented, are these curbs enough to keep the global average temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius - the target adopted by G8, the EU and a number of major developing countries?

Based on commitments made so far, probably not, according to the European Climate Foundation and others.

Analysts project that if no further action is taken on emissions, man-made warming will go beyond the relative safety of two degrees above pre-industrial levels. To hit that two degree target, global emissions in 2020 need to be capped at 44 gigatonnes -- 17 gigatonnes lower than they would be under a "business as usual" path. Pledges as of December 4 could reduce emissions by 49 to 54 gigatonnes a year. This leaves a potential gap of between five and 10 gigatonnes in 2020 (that's five to 10 billion tonnes). If emissions hit 44 gigatonnes in 2020, pegging climate change to two degrees Celsius is not certain. If emissions are higher, the chances of achieving this target are lower.

Charley Beresford, executive director of the Columbia Institute, arrived in Copenhagen December 9th, where she is observing the climate change discussions at COP15. Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have met annually since the establishment of the UNFCCC in Rio de Janero in 1992. The meetings are called a Conference of the Parties and the Copenhagen meeting is the 15th . From December 7th through 18th, the world is focused on COP 15 in Denmark, looking for a global deal on climate change following the KYOTO agreement, which runs out in 2012.