Though Ministers do not arrive until later this week and heads of state next week, the conference center is bustling. The Opening Ceremony of the UNFCCC featured speeches by the Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC Yvo De Boer, Chairman of the IPCC Rajenda K. Pachauri and COP15 President Connie Hedegaard. The speeches all expressed hope for the potential outcomes of the negotiations.
Today was the Opening Plenaries of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action and the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Kyoto Protocol. As the U.S. has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol, it can only participate in discussions in the AWG-LCA. Today's opening plenaries consisted of procedural clarifications, statements by member countries, and statements from NGOs.
Though it was only the first day I managed to stay busy. After watching the Opening Ceremony we looked at today's schedule to see which plenaries and meetings we wanted to sit in on. Throughout the next two weeks NGOs and countries host hundreds (it feels like) side events, both official and non-official. We spent some time looking through them to see which ones we would like to sit in.
As the day progressed I ended up being too busy to attend any plenaries or sid
e events. At the CAN (Climate Action Network) Mitigation Policy subgroup we clarified our positions and goals for mitigation policy at COP and outlined our plan for the next two weeks. A few of the CAN Mitigation group members, including myself, developed talking points on the recent UNEP publication by Lord Nicholas Stern which will be compiled into an article to be published in ECO either tomorrow or Wednesday.
After working on my contribution to the article, some of the SustainUS delegate went to a UNFCCC reception hosted at the Copenhagen City Hall. Our initial motivation may have been free food and drinks but there was also an address by the Mayor of Copenhagen and Yvo de Boer....not to mention a concert by Danish pop/rock sensation "Nephew." (Enjoyable but mostly interesting). Back at the conference center to finish up some work. Looking forward to the next two weeks.
What's up with the secret agreement that leaves out all the developing countries and the UN? We just got news of this development. What is it like to be there and hear about this new development?
ReplyDeleteThe "secret agreement" you are referring to is the "Danish text." Apparently Denmark had been drafting a new text which would be called the "Copenhagen Agreement." There were rumors at the beginning of COP that Denmark had drafted a treaty and that it would be proposed in the opening ceremony. It was not presented; however, it was leaked to the Guardian yesterday which prompted temporary chaos in Copenhagen.
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