I love you to stay here more days

I am becoming rather fond of His Excellency Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah.  It is the morning stocktaking of the last day.  In theory COP will close in 12 hours, but it is becoming clear that this may not happen.

AWG-KP still does not have agreed upon text.

AWG-LCA still does not have agreed upon text.

AWG-ADP still does not have agreed upon text.  In fact, as the youngest of the three tracks it has least priority, the stalemates in the other tracks have prevented the AWG-ADP from having any meetings.

For a negotiation process in which there are three main tracks, no conclusion in any of them does not bode well for the ability of delegates to make their flights in a few short hours.  Not only does there need to be text for each of the tracks, but also must parties be able to agree on a comprehensive package built upon interconnections across all three.

Of course, the possibility of having long term guests does not seem to be unduly bothering the COP President.

“I am not in a rush,  I am at home.  My house is only 10 minutes driving distance.  So I love you to stay here more days.  The text is in your hands.  So at 6 oclock we can come back to have a blessing.  You have time to finalise it if you are in a rush.  If you are not in a rush, you are welcomed to stay with me.”

The negotiations may be a flop, but no-one can doubt his hospitality.

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AWG- KP

I am struck by the lines in the face of the delegate I am speaking with in the hallway.  He has been involved in these negotiations for over 15 years. It is not just age I am seeing but grief.   His eyes temporarily sparkle as he tells me about the original negotiations; “When I think back to 1997 there was so much emotion in the room, it was really exciting”.  But then he stops, “Last night when the KP closed its final plenary there should have been something, but there was not.  There was no emotion in the room.  Now, now its just hopeless I think” he sighs and his shoulders cave in slightly.

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AWG - ADP

It is difficult to know where exactly the problem lays.  It is both everywhere and nowhere.   It is 10:30 pm on the last day of COP and I am sitting in the final plenary of the ADP.  China, the EU and the United States have spent a full hour battling over the words “commitments and action”, versus “range of commitments”, versus “what parties will do”. 

They use humour.

They use anger.

They use technicalities.

They refer to historical precedents and appeal to the future of their children.

Finally the Chair of the session hauls them to the front of the room like unruly school children where they have a hushed huddle.   Egypt resolves the problem, using an entirely new phrase, “ways of defining and reflecting enhanced action’.

Hallalujah.

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AWG – LCA

Negotiations for the LCA ground to a halt on Tuesday.  Realizing that any vision of consensus was far out of reach the President started a process of informal consultations.  Pairs of ministers, one each from a developed and developing country, were requested to do “ministerial outreach” on key issues. These bilateral consultations are closed; only the ministers and most senior members of delegations attend.

It is now Friday night.  One by one ministers charged with outreach come to the stocktaking to report on their progress.

The Swiss Minister reports on cross-cutting finance issues: No agreement yet

The South African Minister reports on loss and damage:  No agreement yet

The Gambian Minister reports on reporting guidelines:  We have a success! Parties have agreed to use a tabular format to report back to the COP.

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The President calls a stocktaking for 1am Saturday morning and, as usual, has the last word.

“I have a long time.  I can sit here one year with you but it depends on you, when do you want to leave?”