The word on the wind

Posted on 11. Dec, 2010 by annac in United Kingdom

Verdict day is here, the clock has subtly slipped past the midnight hour and Saturday smoothly sails into our consciousness with a question hanging in the wind. What did we do here? What did we achieve?

24 hours to believe in the impossible. To believe that the wind blowing in off the Caribbean could bring with it the faint whisper of hope, of a new way forward, of change we can believe in.

And as we sit in the hubbub of a hotel lobby usually clam and tranquil at this time of night. As we sit waiting for the last few hours to slip by, for the 21^st, 22^nd, 23^rd, 24^th, to tick slowly past. For the speakers so patiently waiting to speak to be given their turn. As we sit, watch and wait, the wind that blows in through the doors is whispering something we hardly dare to believe.

Applause filters down from the rooms above, I see smiling and laughing faces descending the escalators, the calm spirit of compromise that is seeping through the rooms, is also seeping into our thoughts.

It is still too early to completely call what we will see, where the wind is taking this ship. With the informal plenary finished, and the working groups making progress, we have 2 plenaries to get through. But it’s time for decisions to be made.

And the word on the wind is compromise.

The texts we saw come out earlier in the day have broad support. No one is completely happy. But if anyone was completely happy then compromise would not be on the table.

And maybe at this time of night, as the hours slip by, as the speakers continue, we are not looking for happy. We are looking for content.

Because just as consumption beyond contentment is the root of why we are here. Contentment with comprimise could be our sailboat out.

Tags: Cancún, compromise, COP16, featured, LCA, UNFCCC