Day 3 at COP15

Just when I thought nothing could top my meeting with the NZed delegation, I came upon Wednesday and all that the day had to offer. After getting to the conference center early and helping to set up the booth, a few of us headed over to the Plenary session. The room was packed with observers and press, sitting on the floor, on random barriers in the room, standing, basically everywhere! The plenary bouncer even had to turn tons of people away. Clearly this is a huge deal.

When we went into the session, believing it to be the scheduled Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, or CMP, we were shocked to find that the regular Conference of the parties meeting, or COP, was still in the heat of debate. And boy, what a debate it was. The small island nation of Tuvalu, the fourth smallest island in the world, proposed a number of provisions to the original climate treaty, asking for more strict climate measures. Bigger non-Annex 1 countries, like India and China, responded at the session saying that no such provisions are necessary and stating that creating a new treaty was in now way a necessary action. Tuvalu went back and forth with the nations, clarifying that their provisions, are only provisions, not an entirely new treaty, and agree that no new treaty needs to be made. What I found interesting was that those non-Annex 1 countries continued saying that no new provisions should be made to the treaty when sections of the treaty have not even been implemented yet. Other island nations voiced their support of Tuvalu in rebuttal.

The debate went back and forth for another two hours, well over time of the COP Plenary session, and cutting into the time of the CMP session. Tuvalu called for a contact group to be created, so that the issue could be formally discussed, after which those same non-Annex 1 countries voiced that no such group should be made and that consultations should be done instead, bringing about another new debate. Finally, COP15 president, Connie Hedegaard chimed in deciding that she would consult about whether or not to create the contact group. The room let out a gasp as Tuvalu expressed their concerns that it was too important an issue to them and therefore requested a suspension of the COP until a decision could be made.

Hedegaard said she would hold the decision off until 3 p.m. During the two-hour waiting period for a decision, Tuvalu and small island nation supporters gathered outside the plenary doors with banners saying “Tuvalu is the REAL DEAL,” “Stand with Tuvalu” and “Rich countries pay your debt,” and chanting things like “Survival!” and “Tuvalu!” When the time came, it was in the middle of the late CMP session but Hedegaard paused the session to make the announcement that no decision had yet been made.

It was a really exciting day, making the rest of the day seem somewhat of a blur. But what happened later that evening, with a few banners, a delegation of youth, and a lot of enthusiasm, was one I, and many, will not forget.

Posted December 10, 2009 at 3:55 am by Rebecca Webster | Share on Facebook
Categories: The World

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