Quote of the day so far: Mutsuyoshi Nishimura, Japan’s Ambassador for Global Environment, who opines that:
“If [UNFCCC Conferences of Parties] were televised live, people would be aghast!”
Amen to that. And it raises the interesting question, so far not really explored at today’s conference: where will the real deal-making be done? Of course, we all agree that the deal will be signed at a UNFCCC summit; even President Bush said so, at Heiligendamm.
Yet even some environment ministers are increasingly wondering privately whether the real deal-making needs to be done in some other forum, probably at head of state level.
But where?
Of course, there are the eternal proposals for some new ‘global leaders’ forum’, like the L20. But that idea lost its main cheerleader when Paul Martin stopped being Canada’s PM, and is dead in the water right now.
Then there’s the G8 – which, until Heiligendamm, looked as though it might be taking on the climate mantle. Climate had been a regular item on the agenda, after all, and Heiligendamm was the third summit in a row with the ‘plus five’ developing countries in attendance.
But after this year’s bash, there were signs of developing country frustration at being no more than invited guests. Indian PM Manmohan Singh went so far as to use the phrase ‘petitioners not partners‘. No easy answers yet, then…
