Oliver’s Saturday Report: Not Quite the End!

Friday was the lull before the storm with less activity in the Exhibitors Halls but plenty going on, and still going on, at the high level debates as I write this on Saturday morning from my home in southern France. A final text is due to be produced this morning with a further day of discussion for the parties to agree to its adoption.
Anika and I attended the Daily Tck briefing on Friday morning where we learnt about the high level machinations that had taken place the day before – what was still in the draft text, what had been removed, who were the bad guys blocking the agreement (mainly Saudi Arabia by the sound of it) and so on.

After a few more visits to others’ stands, it was time to start dismanling our own. It is always a strange moment at the end of a COP where one has been ‘coccooned’ in a space for the duration and suddenly you break away like a butterfly into the big wide world again !

For some however their break into the big wide world was coming a little later!
One could not help but feel sympathy for the poor negotiators who, on Friday night, were embarking on their third all-night sitting in a row.

Let us hope it did not have a detrimental effect on their level of debate and that there will be a positive outcome.

And so at midday I bid farewell to Anika and Josh as I made my way out of the Halls, passing some interesting sights en route.

A reminder that if the polar ice cap continues to melt at the present rate it will not be long before the polar bear is left high and dry – or probably exactly the opposite !

The route back to the buses past the 196 pillars representing every country in attendance.

And a more poignant moment as I passed the Place de la République, still be-decked with flowers and flags following the atrocities committed two weeks before the start of the COP.

It caused me to reflect on how some members of the human race are intent on destroying human lives not only through terrorism but also through the damage they are causing to the environment through climate change. One has a short-term shock effect, the other is more insidious. I can’t decide which is worse.Let us hope solutions for each will be found very soon.

HOT NEWS from a media outlet
« A deal has been finalised. Now for the tricky process of getting it adopted.
News just broke this morning that after all-night talks, the form of a global climate deal has been agreed by negotiators. But it still needs to be ratified – a process that requires the support of every country at the talks, and which even if it goes smoothly will still take all day.
Over the past twenty-four hours the the main story in the media has been pretty simple: “Wait and see.” With at least an extra day tacked on to the Paris process, coverage is dominated by essentially the same report of a day’s delay to any outcome.
Yes, there’s a degree of speculation about the outcome, but the general view in the media seems to be that agreement will come – although the details of whatever has been agreed are likely to have changed from the most recently released draft, and a few more twists and turns are likely.
Underneath the headlines, divisions on finance, loss and damage and differentiation are still being cited. But there’s an undercurrent of political optimism on display, with voices from a range of sources – hosts, negotiators, politicians – suggesting that agreement is close »
I will keep you posted!