Negotiations in Copenhagen came to a grinding halt yesterday. Felix von Geyer ponders the reasons in his latest blog posting from Copenhagen
Negotiations in Copenhagen came to a grinding halt yesterday. Felix von Geyer ponders the reasons in his latest blog posting from Copenhagen
As the High-level summit of the UN Climate Change conference came to a grinding halt Wednesday, Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UNFCCC, told reporters that the "cable car" up the mountain had made an unexpected stop but he expected it to continue and finish the journey.
Negotiators spoken to by your correspondent say they have no process to negotiate from and that they don’t know what is happening.
Senator John Kerry when asked by Ethical Corporation if the US was using congressional inertia to negotiate a trade treaty over an environment treaty, replied: “No way we’re going to go for that.”
So what is “that”, then?
Precisely, nothing. At least, that was the case yesterday.
The unexpected stop occurred yesterday apparently because conference delegates needed time to discuss the basis of the further talks.
It was refreshing for many then, to listen to Bolivian resident Evo Morales talk about "mother earth" and the need to end capitalism.
“Another world is possible,” he said. “But we have to make change ourselves.”
In his speech Morales argued that water should not be a private business but a public service.
He also suggested that "clean energy" was essential, rather than agrifuels.
In fact, once fuel runs out, food supplies would also end.
Then, Morales said, "what are we going to eat?” and pointed to the ecological and climate debt of irrationally industrialised developed countries.
Venezuela’s self-styled socialist president Hugo Chavez echoed similar lines as he addressed the plenary.
Climate change is not the only problem, he said, and echoed Senegal’s claim that everywhere lots of promises are unfulfilled, referring to the UN Millennium Development Goals that aim to eradicate hunger, develop education and so forth by 2015.
For Chavez the problem is also capitalism.
Destructive capitalism must end and Venezuela must meet the threats of American Imperialists, he stated, as he called for the deepest humanism without which “We will disappear, we will all disappear.”
Chavez quoted Cuba’s Castro in saying: “Our species is in danger of extinction.”
Morales was even more forthright. The Obama administration had demanded $40 billion more to continue its fight in Afghanistan, he said, whilst Iraq had cost $2.6 trillion to date.
But, to "save life", the US had given only $10 billion. “This is shameful,” said Morales.
However, in righting the world, Morales was adamant that capitalism must be ended and called for a tribunal for climate justice.
Furthermore, promoting carbon markets did not impress him.
“We want to denounce the interests of those promoting carbon markets. It is time to stop making money from climate injustice.”
In the meantime, the world’s journalists wonder what is happening; what will happen, as talks get under way again today.