Saturday: Closure?

It seems that I may have spoken too soon when I labeled my post "closure" last night. The negotiations continued all night, with a plenary session running from 2 to 9 AM. One of our delegates, who had managed to secure press credentials which allowed him access to the Belle Center throughout the week, stayed throughout the night, only returning to the hotel in the mid-afternoon. The story he told was surprising and disappointing.

It seems that talks were stalled by countries giving long-winded speeches against the agreement as it had been worked out by Brazil, India, China, South Africa and the US. According to Simeon, our correspondent inside the Belle Center, this all came to an end around 9, when the session was called to a close and a change of president of the conference was made. The new president abruptly announced that the agreement was to be "noted" by the UN. The exact implication of this is unclear. It may indicate that the agreement does not fall within the UN system in any legal sense at all, but no one really knows, probably not even the parties themselves. Richard Black has probably best summarized the confusion and disappointment surrounding this outcome. As he points out, the lack of compromise is especially shocking given the level of commitment demonstrated by the parties in preparation for the meeting as well as the amount of diplomatic energy put into trying to reach an agreement. Where the talks go from here is also unclear because the "Copenhagen Accord," as the agreement is to be called, lays out no expectations for pursuing further negotiations. Rumors are going around that the COP16 conference scheduled for December 2010 in Mexico City may be moved up to June, but no one knows for sure. As I said, confusion is the name of the game at this point.

With this post, my blogging from Copenhagen comes to an end. I'll be heading off for a little sight-seeing in Rome tomorrow, and then its back home for Christmas. I hope you have a happy holiday season!