Conference of Parties 15, Day 10

Due to limits on civil society, we are following the negotiations from the outside. The UNFCCC set up an alternative NGO space at Forum with a capacity of 5,000. When 34,000 have been displaced, one would think that more than 30 people would utilize the space...However, when it was officially announced that NGOs would be excluded from the negotiations, many made their own arrangements for outside venues. The NGO space at Forum has free, reliable wireless and large screens playing televised segments of the talks. However, it is not the same.

Though NGOs are not permitted to attend closed meetings at the conference, information is disseminated quickly within the Bella Center. As the daily programme changes significantly over the course of the day, word of mouth and CCTV monitors are the best sources of agenda changes. We are trying to keep up with developments via email but receiving hundreds of emails a day for the past few weeks is tiresome.

The Heads of State statements continued from yesterday, 10 am to midnight. The screens at Forum alternated coverage between these speeches and various press conferences. When Heads of State say nothing of substance and repeat the same empty lines, it is hard to see how ideological rifts can be bridged in the remaining days/hours. The real business is happening behind closed doors. Our communications with the few NGO representatives left inside the Bella Center report that progress is slow; it may actually be regressing. Notably, the United States has bracketed a significant portion of the text that was formerly unbracketed (bracketed text is under discussion, unbracketed is agreed). Delegates have a long night ahead of them...