COP17 Durban Climate Conference December 9

As our taxi driver at 3am this morning eloquently put it: "Oh boy, it's D-day". With negotiations widely expected to go through the night into Saturday morning, it promises to be a long and fascinating 24 hours. OneClimate's caffeine-fuelled real-time interactive coverage, will include live webcasts of the top press conferences and plenary hall negotiations, as well as the best articles, blogs, quotes, tweets, audio, photos and video emerging from the conference. 

John Lanchbery, of the UK non-profit the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, tells us to watch for moves from South Africa, Brazil and China today, in response to the alliance formed yesterday between the EU, small island states and the least developed countries. Some 120 countries are now said to back the 'EU roadmap' towards a global deal by 2015. Will these major emerging economies join them, leaving the US looking increasingly isolated with their own roadmap to nowhere?

UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne, tells us that the European Union is speaking for the "vast majority of participants" here and that he sees "hints of movement" from other countries towards their position...

Analysts and campaigners here seem to be relatively positive about the prospects of the Green Climate Fund being secured, though there remains a danger that even if the technical issues remaining in the Fund are resolved, it may be held hostage (used as a bargaining chip) by countries looking to secure their interests in other areas of the negotiations.

The European Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, has just finished a press briefing, leaving journalists under no illusion as to who she feels needs to move in order for a deal to be made:

Here is the recording of this morning's EU press conference:

Following Connie Hedegaard's robust press briefing, Liz Gallagher, of UK non-profit group E3G, is predicting a showdown with the USA:

I've noted that people seem relatively optimistic about the prospects for agreement on the Green Climate Fund. The battle now seems to be whether the Fund will start based in the World Bank, in Washington (favoured by the US), or not (favoured by most developing countries). BBC Environment Correspondent, Richard Black, had suggested it was on its way to Washington, but apparently his sources are now "rowing back" on that...

The international campaigning organisation, Avaaz.org, has taken out a full-page ad in the Financial Times this morning. Addressing India, Japan, the US and Canada, it asks "Will they sign Africa's death sentence?"

Amidst the uncertainties and strain of a press conference held on the final day, Friends of the Earth International sustained their structural perspective that these negotiations are disproportionately influenced by the interests of big corporate power.

If they're right, what should we look out for in the final outcome? What are the fingerprints of big business?

There are broadly three strands of commercial interest:

the carbon traders - these guys want expansion of the Clean Development Mechanism. The developing countries won't agree to that without continuation of the Kyoto Protocol. Europe is under pressure from the traders so that's one reason it supports the KP.

the new energy retailers - they want to sell their kit to poor countries. They want to protect their smart technologies from being copied by China, India etc. Watch for a fight on intellectual property rights.

the big infrastructure builders - they want to build power stations everywhere with a kick from climate finance. They want the Clean Development Mechanism to include their work - including coal technologies such as carbon capture and storage.

One final thought. The interests of the big corporates is not confined to the old industrialised countries. Chinese and Indian entrepreneurs are crawling all over Durban as well.

I'm watching the Climate Action Network press conference and...

...at last the NGOs have cottoned on to making the connection between financial events in Europe and the lack of financial commitment in the Durban climate talks.

Jason Anderson, Head of European Climate and Energy Policy at WWF, said:


I've been pushing this line for a while, most recently in an article earlier this week which responded to a similar coordinated bail-out of the euro. I shouldn't quote my own stuff but there is an important parallel thought that Jason didn't throw in:


If you're tired you may not get the point straight away. Maybe one to develop after this is all over.

We just caught up with Greenpeace International's climate policy director, Wendel Trio:

Alden Meyer speaking at the Climate Action Network press briefing half an hour ago.

Here's Alden Meyer's summary of the state of play, given in the Climate Action Network press briefing earlier this morning.

On the major task of long term emissions reduction, he says that Brazil and South Africa may have shifted their ground overnight towards the roadmap approach proposed by the European Union.

That leaves all the focus on China, India and US. Can some form of compromise be reached to get them on board?

In the current briefing by Third World Network, Meena Raman has confimed my fears about the importance of intellectual property rights in making new technologies available to poor countries.

She reports good progress in some of the informal negotiations on specialist issues such as technology transfer. She says that the draft text is supported by developing countries such as Bolivia and Philippines but is being resisted by US, Canada and Japan.

Her summary of the overall position is that key interests of developing countries (of which IPRs is just one) are being blocked by the usual suspects.

following my post on Meena Raman's comments about intellectual property rights, here's the full clip of her summary of the state of play in the talks.

Is she still smiling?

This is the barometer of hope that we can see in any presentation by Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, President of the UN climate conference.

and the answer is - Yes, big time. All these positive things to say...


(She doesn't mean China itself, that's just the name of the group). But then she says:


As long as that statement remains valid, we could be heading for an agreement of sorts in Durban.

what a surprise....

...the US press briefing scheduled to start in 15 minutes has been cancelled until further notice.

Here's a recording of the full statement and answers to media questions given by Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, President of the UN climate conference.

These comments concluded about 10 minutes ago.
I doubt if we'll hear any more from the President until she has something concrete to report.

11.00pm? 3.00am tomorrow? any time in the next decade?

I've seen a press release timed a couple of hours ago from the Ecosystems Climate Alliance with a self-explanatory headline:

Finance Sources Dropped from REDD Text

This refers to the endeavours of the negotiations to agree how to pay for the scheme for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.

The note explains:



REDD may not be dead but it's undoubtedly going through a near-death experience in Durban.

Who would believe that Twitter allows sufficient room to sum up the state of play in the Durban climate negotiations?

In the hands of the European Commissioner for Climate Action, anything is possible.

After a quiet afternoon of behind the scenes negotiations, the main corridor outside the plenary hall has suddenly erupted into action, as hundreds of civil society delegates, a flurry of media and plenty of panicked security guards have gathered. Cries of "we are all Africans", and "power to the people" ring out, along with "we're going to the plenary". Not all the chants are so catchy, mind...

if you've been following our blog coverage of the UN climate talks in Durban.....

we'd really welcome any quick thoughts you have about how we can improve in future

drop me a note at guides@oneworld.net

I was right in the middle of the hall as the flashmob started a few minutes ago. The leader called out two "mic checks," tons of people converged on him, and signs saying "Don't Kill Africa" were pullout out from god-knows-where. Somber singing began -- a couple rounds of the traditional Ndabele folk song Shosoloza. Then the human mic speeches started:


Then Mohamad Aslam, Minister of Environment from the Maldives, took to the human mic:


Another speaker got on the human mic. I couldn't tell who, as the crowd was so big at that point and I'm only 6'2.


Then a pause... and then...


So that's the main message of the demonstrators here, who told us they fully expect to get kicked out of the conference center for the final hours of negotiations.

I hear more chanting and occasional bursts of cheering down below me now. I'm heading back in to see what happens next. I'm still humming Shosoloza.

A joint press notice has just been released by 350.org and Avaaz indicating that they "and allies" are behind the protests that Adam has just experienced. They explain:


"It is unclear whether security will allow the gathering to proceed throughout the day or clear the area," the press release concludes.

We'll keep you posted.

Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, holds an impromptu press meeting with Maldives Environment Minister, Mohamed Aslam. Shortly afterwards, security escorted Mr Naidoo out of the building in plastic handcuffs, as protesters chanted "throw out the US"...

The scene outside the plenary hall here in Durban, as protesters use a 'human microphone' (one person speaks, everyone repeats, so everyone hears) to decide whether they should allow themselves to be escorted out by security, or whether they want to occupy the hall.

Asad Rehman, Senior International Climate Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, explains why protesters are making a stand outside the plenary hall...

The protesters' human microphone is echoing around the conference centre here as discussions continue as to whether they should stay or go:

Our cameraman, Jamie, was at the heart of the protests as they erupted in the corridors. Here is his footage...

Kelly Rigg, Executive Director of tcktcktck, tells us that negotiators walking past the protest were "all saying it's about time, we've been wondering when this was going to happen"

Let's move on from all this singing and dancing and get back to business. We were hoping to catch up with a briefing from Jayanthi Natarajan, but it looks as though she has cancelled.

What might be keeping the Indian Minister for Environment and Forests from an early finish to the business of this conference?

Many observers feel that the showstopper in the negotiations is the insistence that any agreement on emissions reductions should be cemented within a legally binding agreement, like the Kyoto Protocol. Countries like US, India and China don't like this.

I'm not convinced. One thing about legal terminology is that it can often be circumvented by....more legal terminology. Surely some clever wording can be found to satisfy all parties.

I've been influenced more by the untypically dull presentations in Durban by Martin Khor, director of the South Centre, a body which assists developing countries. For a fortnight his needle has been stuck in a groove which replays the large gap in emissions per capita in India and China, compared with the United States.

And yet the US is insisting on "parity" in the mitigation expectations of all parties in the new agreement under discussion. Earler today, Martin Khor was still playing the tape:


These countries listen to Martin Khor. I don't think the Europeans have a problem with CBDR (as it's called) but, unless the US can be persuaded to get reasonable, we'll be left with a weak outcome.

While the protesters have been making their voices heard in the corridors, a new negotiating text is being discussed by ministers. The full story is difficult to piece together, but it looks to have emerged following the 'ndaba' meeting late last night, and gone through several iterations this morning. AOSIS are said to be unhappy with it, the EU is willing to accept it as a basis for further negotiation, and Australia loves it. Wendel Trio (who is now Director of CAN Europe, and no longer works for Greenpeace as I suggested earlier - my apologies!) gives more details:

AOSIS have finished their coordination meeting to discuss the bloc's response to the latest negotiating text. We understand that the meeting began with delegates declaring it would be impossible to use as a basis for further talks, but that on reflection they drew up a number of suggestions for improvement that will be delivered to the Chair. As laid out by John Vidal and Fiona Harvey in the Guardian, AOSIS' concerns revolve around the language ('legal frameworks' vs. 'legal instruments'), the lack of any post-2012 mitigation actions, and no new emissions targets until after 2020. The Africa Group is rumoured to be struggling to come to a coordinated position on the text. There has been no official response from China, but we hear that Chinese NGOs are worried by what they see.

Ministers are in another informal 'indaba' meeting discussing the text. Maldives climate advisor, Mark Lynas, is inside and reports on Twitter that AOSIS is making a stand. The Cape Verde minister has apparently appealed to the EU for support not to sign their death warrants...

It looks like the call to the EU from Cape Verde has been heard. French negotiator Paul Watkinson tweets "we are all Cape Verdians!"

I checked out the press briefing by the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance which finished just now.

The NGO representatives on the platform didn't have any specific update on the reaction of the Africa Group of negotiators to the latest draft text. But their mood was downbeat.

The Zambian spokesman (apologies for not picking up his name) observed that a poor result here in Durban will rebound on the multilateral system generally and on the forthcoming Rio+20 conference on sustainable development in particular.

This is the set piece event of 2012 for all concerned for poverty reduction and environmental integrity.

He also mentioned the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN framework that was agreed in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, alongside the Convention on Climate Change.

I think he's right - indeed the Rio+20 preparation is already weighed down by low expectations. But our concern must focus more on the UN climate change regime which may no longer be sufficiently robust in the minds of political leaders to withstand another major setback.

And let's hope that's not going to happen anyway.

Confirmation that the EU is standing with the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), while the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the left-leaning Latin American negotiating bloc, ALBA, are also said to be speaking out against the text in the 'ndaba' meeting

Pablo Salon, the former chief negotiator for Bolivia, gave his reaction to the latest draft text for the Durban talks at a press briefing for Focus on the Global South. He said:

A high octane reaction to the draft text from Nnimmo Bassey, Chair of Friends of the Earth International, speaking at the Focus on the Global South briefing. If his anger proves contagious, we're in for a stormy evening indeed.


DON'T KILL AFRICA reads his placard.

John Lanchbery, of the UK non-profit the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, tells us that the disagreements on the draft text plus additional work means that these talks could "go well into tomorrow, but that's probably a good thing"...

If this is referring to our blog coverage, I and my colleageues are basking in the ultimate compliment.

French negotiator Paul Watkinson reports that the President is planning to redraft texts incorporating feedback asap...

Before we encounter any more draft texts, here's an outline summary of the day's events. (I invite my colleagues to follow up with any errors or omissions).

With the overnight wind in her sails, the European Commissioner, Connie Hedegaard used the day's opening press briefing to add pressure on those parties yet to be won over by her roadmap.

Soon we heard that Brazil and South Africa had been seduced, leaving China, India and US as the main hold-outs. Perhaps the gameplan was to isolate the US and repeat the endgame of the Bali conference in 2007.

Criticism that the NGO movement has been too sleepy in the Durban's sultry atmosphere was finally answered in the most decisive fashion. A "flashmob" of activists filled the hallways, singing and chanting messages to the delegates by human microphone. About 100 protesters have been stripped of their conference badges.

Interviewed moments before his ejection from the Convention Centre, Kumi Naidoo - head of Greenpeace - expressed outrage that the world's banks had overnight mobilised $200 billion to rescue the euro currency, yet could produce nothing for the Green Climate Fund.

These events were captured in dramatic fashion by the OneClimate team. Here's Jeffrey Allen's report.

A new draft of the outcome text was initially accepted by the EU as a basis for further negotiations. But an about-turn was forthcoming when its allies, including the small island states, refused outright to consider the document.

We understand that a revised draft may shortly materialise. There is uncertainty over the remainder of the timetable. Rumours that work will be held over to Saturday may prove false if some key players have booked an early exit from Durban.

I've not provided many links in this text because you can find everything right here in today's live blog.

So, it seems that during the informal 'indaba' meeting, a number of countries outright rejected the proposed negotiating texts drawn up by the conference President. The indaba has now broken up, the President is redrafting the texts, and it's a case of waiting to see how countries respond to the next version. Time for a cup of tea... but we'll keep our ear to the ground to bring you developments as they happen. In the meantime, Mark Lynas sheds light on AOSIS' hopes from the next draft...

Any doubts that it's going to be a very long night are dispensed with thanks to this news from tcktcktck Executive Director, Kelly Rigg:

just to let you know that the formal proceedings of the UN climate talks in Durban are being closed for today and access to the Convention Centre suspended.

Obviously that's not great news but efforts are continuing to resolve the differences between the parties.

I think we should have a better idea of the outcome by lunchtime tomorrow (Saturday) and our live blog team will be back in action at 8.00am (GMT+2).