The climate summit kicked off yesterday in the Danish capital, but a majority of participants failed to get access to the opening ceremony due to limited capacity at the event venue.

An hour after the opening ceremony started at Bella Center, there was still a crowd of people stranded outside, standing on their toes, stretching their necks, trying to get a peek at what's happening inside.

Roger Muchuba Buhereko, a non-governmental organizations (NGO) representative from Congo representing the Rainforest Foundation Norway, told China Daily that he really wanted to have just one look at what was going on inside.

"I traveled a long way from Congo, but I could not get in. I understand the situation, but everybody wanted to get a ticket to get in," he said.

Government officials, representatives from NGOs and journalists overcrowded the Bella Center, which has a maximum capacity of 15,000 people.

But more than double that number, 34,000 people on Sunday, asked to physically attend the meeting, forcing the organizer to issue a media alert and apply limits on the number of journalists and NGO representatives.

"Due to these constraints, NGO delegates will be allowed access to the building according to a quota system," which only a prearranged percentage of each organization's representatives can get inside during peak times, the conference's secretariat and the Danish government said in a joint statement.

"Also due to the space constraints, a maximum of 3,500 journalists will be allowed access to the Bella Center," the statement said.

For fear that even more people will come for the official opening ceremony on Monday morning, the organizer simply barred media and NGO representatives who arrived late from picking up their badges to enter.

Only a handful of journalists are allowed into the conference's three-hour official opening.

The huge number of participants showed how the whole world is concerned about the results of the climate change conference, which is the largest-ever event hosted by Denmark. Nearly all hotels in Copenhagen had been fully booked, with some participants advised to stay in Malmo, a Swedish town near the border.

It was reported that the Danish government mobilized 60,000 policemen, nearly half of the country's total, to ensure security in Copenhagen during the conference.

(China Daily / Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2009)