Drama and decisions
Our afternoon sessions – the Low Carbon Mission – went incredibly well yesterday with discussions headed by, among others, Ian Marchant of SSE; Jane Woods of Scottish Business in the Community and Chris Hegarty of SCIAF. We also had an impassioned plea from Ibnu Najib, a British Council Climate Advocate from Indonesia, who spoke about the culture of the people in his home country being at peril through climate change. All was inspirational but the star turn, if that is appropriate language to use, was Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, whose praise of Scotland’s actions was very welcome. Ms Robinson is particularly interested in the plight of women through climate change and referred to some very distressing examples which have been delivered as living testament at other events at Cop. This humanising of the issues is what we need to make the desired impact in extracting commitments this week.
A hugely successful event, which has certainly left a flavour of Scotland around proceedings. Richard Dixon of WWF and Stop Climate Chaos has been particularly popular handing out bottles of SCC’s special 42 per cent proof whisky, created specially for Cop15.
Another tough day in the main talks after dramatic happenings yesterday when the African nations staged a walk out. Negotiations resumed with people getting back round the table overnight
Heads of state start to appear today and the First Minister himself will be taking part in a number of events, including the signing of a communique with the Maldives, a nation at extreme risk of the effects of climate change.
We are entering the crunch time now as we head to the summit’s climax. Correspondents say suspicions among poor countries are that rich ones are ganging up on them.
We must ease these fears and look to Friday.
Today I am busy meeting other heads of States and Nations at The Climate Group venue near the Tivoli Gardens. The Climate Group are big hitters in these discussions and their impressive list of speakers is testament to that.
Christmas lights may be twinkling around us but the midnight oil will continue to burn, I am sure.
