Things are really getting in to the thick of things today. Most of the negotiating groups are heavily involved in drafting text, or working "in the weeds" as we call it in DC. They're all working very, very hard to get a deal. I can see it at the morning briefings - some people have bags under their eyes and look like they could use a few more cups of coffee. The hours are long and the sessions are challenging. People's spirits are still high, and they keep at it - there are only a few more days before high-level ministers show up, and a couple days after that, Heads of State and Government arrive. It's time to get moving - there's a planet to save.
For me, this actually means a bit of a lull in activity. Most of the drafting takes place in closed sessions, which I cannot attend. In the plenaries, the story of Tuvalu's request for a formal contact group continues to play out. There was no resolution today as far as I can tell. The press is reporting the talks as "stalled," which is only partly true. The formal COP15 meeting is currently suspended, but there are multiple meetings going on simultaneously. There are meetings discussing the Kyoto Protocol (the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC acting as the Meeting of the Parties of the Kyoto Protocol, also known as the COP/MOP or CMP), the subsidiary bodies to the UNFCCC - the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), the two ad-hoc working groups on the Kyoto Protocol and long-term cooperative agreement (AWG-KP and AWG-LCA, respectively), as well as the many contact and drafting groups. There is much to discuss, and the delegates aren't just waiting around while the COP sorts itself out.
On another note, I finally have some company here. Other Congressional staff started to arrive today - I've been operating more or less alone for the last few days. I met one other staffer earlier in the week, but I haven't seen him since the first day. The Congressional delegation is still up in the air at the moment, so we staff still have to prepare as if they are coming. This means trying to plan meetings, get the lay of the land so we can write briefing memos, etc.
Posted By: Thomas Lee @ 12:35 AM |