Scorched

Day 14: To sleep, perchance to dream…

Sunday, December 20th, 2009 | uncategorized | No Comments

20 Dec 2009

Leonie Joubert is a science writer, reporting for Independent Newspapers from the United Nations climate negotiations taking place in Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December. This is her blog-on-the-side.

Slept late. Woke feeling groggy.

Went online. Sunday Independent’s front page top story: “The Hopelesshagen flop”

It’s all over. I survived my first CoP (Conference of the Parties).

And now I feel the gravity of home beginning to reel me in… time to shower, pack and head for the airport.

Copenhagen. Hopenhagen. Hopelesshagen.

Day 13: Did hope die today in “Hopenhagen”?

Sunday, December 20th, 2009 | uncategorized | No Comments

19 Dec 2009

Leonie Joubert is a science writer, reporting for Independent Newspapers from the United Nations climate negotiations taking place in Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December. This is her blog-on-the-side.

Just quickly. I’m shattered and need to get to bed.

By the end of the day, yesterday, it was clear that we wouldn’t get a legal agreement. We were too close to the midnight deadline set by the United Nations, and countries were still stuck on the main issues of emissions cuts and climate compensation.

A draft of a new document, the “Copenhagen Accord” had been circulating all day – so we knew for sure that we’d see a political agreement come out of the climate summit. › Continue reading

Day 12: … and then Copenhagen froze

Sunday, December 20th, 2009 | uncategorized | No Comments

18 Dec 2009

Leonie Joubert is a science writer, reporting for Independent Newspapers from the United Nations climate negotiations taking place in Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December. This is her blog-on-the-side.

My ed wanted two things out of today: a colour piece to show what the activists and green folk were up to, and a wrap of the conference since it should finish tonight (midnight’s the deadline by when they’re supposed to have signed this thing into law).

I’d heard, from snooping about the NGO hall last night, that a small group of “Climate Pirates” were going to shave their heads in protest against the lack of action during the climate summit. So I dashed out through security to the entrance of the Bella centre, gasped at the big freeze waiting outside, and caught up with protesters. › Continue reading

Day 11: Snowed under

Sunday, December 20th, 2009 | uncategorized | No Comments

17 Dec 2009

Leonie Joubert is a science writer, reporting for Independent Newspapers from the United Nations climate negotiations taking place in Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December. This is her blog-on-the-side.

Jorisna Bonthuys (my intrepid colleague from Die Burger) and I made the grave error of deciding to leave an hour later than normal (6:30am) this morning, and got snarled up in a city snowed under and suffering transport failures.

› Continue reading

Day 10: Morassed in the final furlong

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 | uncategorized | No Comments

16 Dec 2009

Leonie Joubert is a science writer, reporting for Independent Newspapers from the United Nations climate negotiations taking place in Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December. This is her blog-on-the-side.

Today started badly. I’m not sure if it was the lingering malaise after the off-again on-again insomnia that plagues me when I get too much sensory input (this conference has been an information overload), or the result of going to bed on one glass of wine and no dinner (that’s another story) – but it took me a while to get out of the starting blocks.

It wasn’t just me, though. Everything seemed slumped and oppressive in the pre-dawn chill – the cafeterias opened slowly (leaving those of us needing the morning caffeine and croissant fix decidedly grumpy); the negotiators avoided eye contact; the media room was pessimistic about the outcome of talks; activists stormed the perimeters of the conference in frustration at being denied access to the building. › Continue reading

Day 9: Time’s running out…

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 | uncategorized | No Comments

15 Dec 2009
Leonie Joubert is a science writer, reporting for Independent Newspapers from the United Nations climate negotiations taking place in Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December. This is her blog-on-the-side.

Unbelievable. It seems that the most exciting thing to happen at Copenhagen so far is the arrival of Californian governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. That’s if you judge popularity by the length of queues… and the queue to get the “first come, first served” tickets to his talk today was several times longer even than the queues to the loos , the coffee bars and the food stalls. › Continue reading

Day 8: If it bleeds, it leads; if it’s dull, it’s…

Monday, December 14th, 2009 | uncategorized | No Comments

14 Dec 2009
Leonie Joubert is a science writer, reporting for Independent Newspapers from the United Nations climate negotiations taking place in Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December. This is her blog-on-the-side.

I’m feeling a little cynical about my profession today. Here’s how today played out: in a press conference scheduled for early today, the Africa group said it wasn’t happy with the way the Danish hosts of the negotiations had set the agenda for the day.

It’s a pretty long and technical explanation for why it was a problem (hopefully Independent Newspapers will run the full story tomorrow, so I can point you to the details) but basically it was an annoying procedural issue that could have resulted in the death of the Kyoto Protocol (the only legally binding mechanism currently governing emission reductions). › Continue reading

Day 7: Sunday, like the Morrissey song, was silent and grey

Sunday, December 13th, 2009 | uncategorized | No Comments

13 Dec 2009
Leonie Joubert is a science writer, reporting for Independent Newspapers from the United Nations climate negotiations taking place in Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December. This is her blog-on-the-side.

Sunday is one of the few days in the madness of the climate conference where things do trickle to almost nothing in the formal talks. Oh, you can be sure that there’s a lot going on behind the scenes, but nothing is listed on the schedule for the day. No meetings, no press briefing, nothing… so it was a gently quiet day indoors at our digs for most of us. Plenty of side events, but no real political manoeuvring. › Continue reading

Day 6: Taking to the streets

Sunday, December 13th, 2009 | uncategorized | No Comments

12 Dec 2009

Leonie Joubert is a science writer, reporting for Independent Newspapers from the United Nations climate negotiations taking place in Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December. This is her blog-on-the-side.

I may have to take back what I said on Thursday – about the weather in Denmark. The seven-day forecast looks about as grim as everyone warned us it could be, with sub-zero temperatures on the way. The city has already started sprinkling salt on the streets, cycling paths and pavements in anticipation of ice. › Continue reading

Day 5: Survival of the fittest

Friday, December 11th, 2009 | uncategorized | No Comments

11 Dec 2009
Leonie Joubert is a science writer, reporting for Independent Newspapers from the United Nations climate negotiations taking place in Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December. This is her blog-on-the-side.

I’m tempted to have a t-shirt printed saying “I survived CoP15 – week one”. But there are two problems with this: a) it might be a bit premature (technically, this weekend still constitutes the first week, and tomorrow’s jam-packed with stuff happening, including a possible interview with Wangari Maathai) and b) not many people will know what CoP15 even means, so the boast will fall a bit flat! › Continue reading