In 2015, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) was held in which city?

Introduction / Context:
Climate change conferences organised under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are major events in global environmental governance. The 2015 conference, commonly known as COP21, was particularly important because it resulted in the historic Paris Agreement, which set global targets for limiting temperature rise. This question tests whether you can correctly recall the host city of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, which is a popular fact in environment and polity sections of competitive examinations.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The year of the conference is 2015.
• The conference is the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also called COP21.
• The options list four cities: Paris, Doha, Montreal and Copenhagen.
• You are asked to identify the city where this conference took place.

Concept / Approach:
The key to solving this question lies in associating COP21 and the Paris Agreement with their host city. The Paris Agreement on climate change is directly named after Paris, the capital city of France, where the negotiations took place. Many environment and current affairs resources emphasise this connection, and remembering it helps quickly eliminate other options. The approach is thus to recall the name of the agreement and link it with the host city rather than trying to memorise all conference locations separately.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that COP21 in 2015 produced the Paris Agreement, which is a major international climate treaty. Step 2: Note that international agreements are often named after their host city, for example the Kyoto Protocol or the Montreal Protocol. Step 3: Since the agreement is called the Paris Agreement, it indicates that the negotiations were held in Paris. Step 4: Check the options and confirm that Paris is listed as one of the choices. Step 5: Choose Paris as the correct answer, because COP21 and the Paris Agreement are both associated with that city.

Verification / Alternative Check:
As an additional check, you can compare with other well known environmental meetings. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, and the Montreal Protocol in Montreal, Canada. In the same way, the Paris Agreement was concluded in Paris, France. Current affairs compilations from the year 2015 and 2016 also highlight this fact. If you remember reading that world leaders gathered in Paris to finalise a global climate deal, it reinforces that Paris was the host city for COP21. This cross linking of agreements and cities is a reliable memory technique for exam preparation.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Doha has hosted climate talks, but not the landmark 2015 conference that gave rise to the Paris Agreement. Montreal is associated with the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer, signed in 1987, not COP21. Copenhagen hosted the COP15 summit in 2009, which did not result in a binding agreement comparable to the Paris Agreement. Therefore, while these cities are all important in environmental diplomacy, they do not match the specific 2015 conference in question, making them incorrect options here.

Common Pitfalls:
A frequent mistake is to mix up different climate and environmental conferences because many city names recur in news reports. Candidates might confuse the Montreal Protocol or the Kyoto Protocol with the Paris Agreement and select the wrong city. Another pitfall is relying only on year wise memorisation without connecting each treaty to its core outcome. To avoid this, always pair each major agreement with its host city and key objective, for example Paris for climate mitigation, Montreal for ozone protection and Kyoto for emission reduction commitments. This organised approach makes recall easier under exam pressure.

Final Answer:
The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP21, was held in Paris, so the correct option is Paris.