Delegates from 192 countries are gathering¹ in the Danish capital Copenhagen for the opening of the long-awaited UN summit on climate change.

来自192个国家的代表聚集到丹麦首都哥本哈根参加期待已久的联合国气候变化峰会。

Copenhagen could be a turning point in climate change, negotiators say

The conference has been described by some scientists as the most important the world has ever seen.

Security is tight as organisers expect 15,000 delegates and 100 world leaders to attend over the next two weeks.

On the eve of the summit, the UN's chief climate negotiator Yvo de Boer said the talks were in excellent shape.

He told the BBC that many countries were now making pledges over curbing抑制，束缚 greenhouse gas emissions³.

"Never in 17 years of climate negotiations⁴ have so many different countries made so many pledges. It's unprecedented空前的," he said.

Mr de Boer said offers of finance for clean technology for poor countries were also coming through and talks were progressing on a long-term vision of massive carbon cuts by 2050.

South Africa became the latest country to make an offer on cutting emissions - its first quantifiable可以计量的 target.

On the eve of the summit it offered to cut by one-third the growth of its carbon emissions over the next decade - subject to getting more funding and technological⁵ help from wealthier countries.

Meanwhile, a new poll commissioned by the BBC suggests that public concern over climate change is growing across the world.

In the survey, by Globescan, 64% of people questioned said that they considered global warming a very serious problem - up 20% from a 1989 poll.

To stress the importance of the summit, 56 newspapers in 45 countries will publish the same editorial on Monday, warning that climate change will "ravage破坏，蹂躏 our planet" unless action is agreed, the London-based Guardian⁷ reported.

The editorial - to be published in 20 languages - has been thrashed out通过反复研讨解决 by editors ahead of the Copenhagen talks, the newspaper said.

"At the deal's heart must be a settlement between the rich world and the developing world," the editorial says.

Environmental activists⁸ plan protests in Copenhagen and around the world on 12 December to encourage delegates to reach the strongest possible deal.

Tens of thousands marched in London and other UK and European cities on Saturday.