Booted out!

Posted on 07. Dec, 2009 by Leela Raina in India

Walking the streets of Copenhagen in the extreme weather conditions , the boots I bought from Poznan( COP14) are a god sent. The reason why the COP is hosted in cold countries , especially in winter is that once we attend one, we buy sufficient clothes to be able to attend the next one!

But since I am not used to walking so much , and these boots got chipped from inside due to so much friction I came came back to the Norroner( Our ship accomodation) in a bad mood and with lots of blisters.

Just yesterday an NGO colleague of mine was asking me ,’ Leela do you know where you delegation is residing?’. I said,’ I don’t really know , maybe Radisson?’ . And in the recent news I heard that two negotiators of the Indian negotiating team were apparently being booted out.

The reason I was in a bad mood was because I got to know that those two were Prodipto Ghosh and Ambassador Dasgupta who were among the closest of the negotiators I tracked. There definitely seems to be a ridge between them and the Indian minister- Jai Ram Ramesh since the policy stances India takes to the COP change very rapidly and they felt that these changes to bring about flexibility were not clear enough.

Due to lack of clarity and some miscommunication, they themselves deleayed their flights to Copenhagen. They were supposed to be here , assisting the joint secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests- Mr R R Rashmi (who has already arrived) in lobbying in the G77 and China preparatory meetings .

After some clarrification , these two negotiators would be arriving in the next flight to Copenhagen , but I am not sure how effectibe their role is going to be considering the internal dynamics in the delegation and a whole recycling of delegation responsibilities.

But how do we see this translate for the Indian Position?

GOOD- Because they were actually hindering bringing any sort of flexibility on the table, if they get booted out it would mean that India would definitely be in a position to compromise in the end.

BAD- Understanding COP and UNFCCC procedure and text takes years and giving negotiating to people who are new to the processes at this point of time could tarnish the position itself and leave the negotiating team under capacity.

There are new editions to the team as well as a lot of high level officials and politicians attending the COP . I am interested in looking out for who actually comes and how effective is the team dynamics going to translate into a strong unified negotiatiing stance for the Indian Delegation.

I am excited for tomorrow and lets see whether all my negotiators here, ready and set to go?…..

Looking forward to seeing old negotiators and making some new negotiator friends…..

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Tags: boots, Copenhagen, dasgupta, delegation, flights, Ghosh, India, Jai Ram Ramesh, Ramesh, sexy, stance, UNFCCC