Participants in the COP15 climate summit should not be subject to Christmas symbols such as fir trees, says the foreign ministry

Although the COP15 climate conference is set to take place during the Christmas season, the Foreign Ministry believes the holiday and all its symbols should be kept well clear of the summit.

That point was bluntly illustrated when a sponsorship providing numerous Nordmann fir trees for the conference was rejected by the ministry, according to public broadcaster DR.

The trees – the most common species used as Christmas trees in Denmark – were intended to be placed as decorations for the entrance of Bella Center, where the conference is taking place.

But Christmas is a religious holiday that has no place at a United Nations function, according to the Foreign Ministry’s Svend Olling, who is the head of practical planning for the climate summit.

‘We have to remember that this is a UN conference and, as the centre then becomes UN territory, there can be no Christmas trees in the decor, because the UN wishes to maintain neutrality,’ said Olling.

Nordmann firs otherwise fully live up to the climate-friendliness standards of the summit’s organisers. The firs are among the best trees at binding carbon dioxide and preventing its release into the atmosphere.