Roundup from Bali: tears, jeers and a last minute U-turn

Posted by bex — 17 December 2007 at 4:37pm - Comments

It's all too depressingly familiar. The Bali consensus was watered down by low tactics from the US (supported by Japan, Canada, Australia and others). The strong science that should be driving the process was relegated to a footnote. And work to reduce emissions from deforestation still has a long way to go, thanks to the inclusion of a loophole that may allow some industrialised countries to swap binding targets for voluntary goals.

But the fact that we have a Bali Mandate at all - including a process, a deadline and a guarantee that several of the most important issues are on the agenda - is worth a celebration in itself.

Late last week, the talks looked close to collapse. Things looked so pear-shaped that Ban Ki-Moon flew back to the conference to give the delegates a good talking to.

"I know most of you are exhausted from lack of sleep," he said. "I come before you very reluctantly. Frankly I am disappointed at the level of progress."

The New Scientist reports on what happened next:

[Ban Ki-Moon's words] had an effect and were greeted with a standing ovation. As nation after nation took the floor, each expressed their willingness to be flexible and accept the latest draft.

And then came the turn of the US. “We are not prepared to accept this formulation.” A stunned silence was followed by a crescendo of boos and hisses.

But nations continued to accept the draft until Kevin Conrad, representative from Papua New Guinea, put in words what no-one dared say:

"There is an old saying if you are not going to lead you should get out of the way and so I say to the United States: ‘We ask for your leadership but if you are not going to lead, leave it to us. Get out of the way.’"

“We have listened very closely to many of our colleagues,” replied Paula Dobriansky, chief US negotiator and, after a few more of the dialectic detours which the US delegation has become known for, “we will go forward and join the consensus”.



And they did. For a day. Yesterday, the White House poured cold water on the limited agreement, saying the US had "serious concerns" about the new global consensus.

So, it's all down to the next round of talks in 2009. As Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat (who at one point left the negotiations in tears) said:

"Finalising the negotiations in 2009 will be a lot more difficult than what we have been doing in the past two weeks." And as, The Guardian added, "the sigh of 12,000 exhausted delegates could almost be heard rippling around the world".

For full details on what was decided at Bali, visit our international website, and have a look at how we've been keeping up the pressure with our actions on climate change in the run up to Bali:


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