It is day three at the climate talks and officials are struggling to reach any kind of consensus, it seems.
At the second plenary session of the Conference of the Parties delegates debated for two precious hours on how to consult on proposals submitted by parties under Article 17 of the Climate Change Convention. The Article allows any country to submit formal plans to amend the text of any protocol drafted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - namely the Kyoto Protocol. Some of these proposals would fundamentally change the nature of the 1997 protocol, the only international agreement for action on climate change.
The issue is clearly critical. But with just eight days remaining of the Copenhagen conference (no weekend break for delegates - neogitations will continue throughout Saturday) and many key issues still to address it was pure Monty Python to hear delegates debate for so long on how to consult on how to consult.
The room in which the session was held has been named after Tycho Brahe, an astronomer whose legacy is of precise standards and objective measurements. Let’s hope Connie Hedegaard, as president of conference, has an equally precise eye on the clock.
It seems it was not unwise of Christian Aid to set human clocks to wander through the corridors and halls of the Bella Centre. Time is already slipping away.