Will. This. Ever. End?
It's the next day, just past noon, and I am still sitting in the plenary hall of the Bali International Convention Centre, waiting for....well, I don't really know what. Last night, at 2am, some ministers finally agreed on a text on how to frame the discussions and negotiations for climate change policy beyond 2012, solving all contentious issues by....a footnote. However, that was not the end of it. Even though the US and the EU made a deal, watering down the text to something almost completely non-substantial, the developing countries, particularly China and India, still have to give their approval. And apparently they don't approve of it as it stands. Any changes to the text are again unacceptable to the EU. So now negotiators are armwrestling in backrooms to see who wins...sort of. After my slightly optimistic mood in the last few days, it seems that all is not so well. One particular sign was given just now, when China accused the objective UNFCCC Secretariat that they were intentionally planning the big plenary meeting at the same time as the informal consultations, wondering "Is this Secretariat our Secretariat?" If even the supposedly objective actors are not trusted here, will countries trust each other?
I am postponing my holiday now by at least a few hours, hoping that these issues will be resolved in the next few hours. But nothing is sure here. Agreement/No agreement; One hour/A new night. Although many delegates will need to catch planes back home, the fact that a new day has started has perhaps given some countries the idea that we can go on for another night. I will stay now, I've been here too long anyway. But I do hope it will ever end.
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