Yields of the Night Vigil

by Anjali Appadurai I started this post at 4am, and worked on it intermittently until now - 9:30am. No new LCA text, no sleep. These ministers worked through the night, and through the documents they released from their "indaba" at a couple of different intervals, we have some meagre updates. The indaba high-level consultations convened at midnight and are still going strong, with three draft...

The Last Night in Durban

by Samuli Sinisalo A lot has happened today, I hope. Everything that is going on takes place behind closed doors, so we have no way of accurately reporting it the play by play. The ministerial Inbada started just few minutes ago, and that will hopefully bring some clarity to the situation. So far there are two draft texts presented by the COP presidency, to conclude the work in Durban. Text from...

No One Can Play Poker Like The US

by Joe Perullo There was a special Open-ended informal consultation on Wednesday organized by the president of the COP to discuss the possible Durban outcome.  There's no definition on what the outcome is right now, but it will for sure address the concerns arising from the potential elimination of the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.  The US was second or third on the initial...

Post-2012 Climate Regime: How Much Worse Can it Get?

by Trudi Zundel The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol will end in 2012. In anticipation of that ending, Parties have been discussing what form the new UNFCCC commitments will take. The first item on the table: will there be a second commitment of the Kyoto Protocol? Developed and developing countries have fundamentally different hopes for a Durban outcome. Developed countries are...