Endless conference towards an agreement on never ending negotiations

While the UN climate negotiations reel dangerously in Durban, NGOs are entertained by a lone pianist. I cannot help but to think that we are living the last hours of the Titanic.

After the real-time coverage of the negotiations last night (link), we are now unexpectedly back at the COP17. The conference was originally supposed to close last night (Friday). But this did not happened yet and, as some governmental delegations are already returning to their home countries, the discussions are still continuing throughout the day.

This morning around 10am, the since long expected text resulting from the negotiations on the Long Term Cooperative Action was finally released. Since then, discussions and analysis of the document are in full swing (the text is still 56 pages). Consequently, and given the complexity of the text which was submitted, governmental delegations have not yet gathered in plenary session to discuss collectively its contents.

The atmosphere in the corridors of the conference centre is now quite strange. At first, NGOs have spent many hours reading the proposed texts up and down. After a few hours, the situation is now relatively awkward, with hundreds of delegates waiting for a verdict.

The proposed texts are clearly unsatisfactory. If a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol is mentioned, the final decision on this matter is postponed once again. Regarding negotiations for a comprehensive agreement that would include legally binding targets for emissions reduction, the Presidency proposes yet another extension of the discussions. This approach convinces few among the observers still in the conference venue. It appears that we keep relaying on the same solutions (creating a new ad-hoc working group…), despite the fact that they have already been tested repeatedly in the past and have not delivered any successful outcome since the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997.