It is 6:13 am and in the Bella Conference Center I am listening to the chair of the AOSIS (Association of Small Island States) trying to fight off uncontrollable tears. I am almost certain that the Group of 77 (a behemoth of 130 plus developing country states) is coming to an end. Countries are divided and I am witnessing accusations fly across the plenary. Why has it taken us so long to arrive at this point? We sit here with the “Copenhangen Accord†staring at our faces. It is a document full of hot air and is not what billions of people across the planet had been promised to deliver atmospheric restitution. Once again the developed nations have managed to gain somewhat of an upper hand in the wake of greater sacrifices of the larger developing countries.
December 9th
The day started off with youth in action, as the Centre for Legislative Research and Advocacy (CLRA), Oxfam and IYCN organized a door-to-door visit to 115 parliamentarians by students. These young environmentalists from Springdales School, Delhi Public School Vasant Kunj, Modern School Barakhamba, St. Colombia’s School, Sanskriti School and the Indian School quizzed the legislators on their views regarding climate control measures and calculated the lawmaker’s carbon footprints.
At the Constitution Club, following a welcome speech by Mr. Rishabh Gulati of CLRA, several of the members of parliament were questioned by students and IYCN members in New Delhi and Copenhagen about the politicians’ stance on climate change and environmental policy.
December 10th
Barack Obama gaining the Nobel was more in the headlines than the murkiness of the conference. In some ways it is a good sign that while darkness looms large over the negotiations, the man most of the world is pinning its hopes on is winning the Nobel Prize. The message was simple: Take the Nobel and sign the deal at Copenhagen.
The president is coming on the 18th, primarily to sign whatever is on the table but we all know that what gets on the table would be nothing less than a sour outcome that will conveniently miss to address some of the most crucial issues of our time, some issues that don’t necessary get you a Nobel prize but something bigger and better.
An update on the craziness at COP
The first three days of negotiations have gone by in Copenhagen with little to uplift the negative mood dogging the parties. Two years after the ratification of the Bali Action Plan, the promises of a new green deal in Copenhagen could well turn out to be the light at the end of a never-ending tunnel.
