COP21 Blog Update

Elizabeth May

A brief blog today.

The talks were mostly off-line – one to one (or rather, one COP president to a larger regional grouping, one after the other).

Claire Martin had a not entirely small tragedy as a security guard assigned to John Kerry knocked a brand new and over-priced coffee out of her hand to make room for the US secretary of state…We have had trouble finding good coffee so maybe that was not a small tragedy after all.

Some of the facilitated dialogues are open to members of party (government) delegations. I attend and seek possible compromise solutions and then suggest those to others.

We had a moving tribute to Maurice Strong carved out from time in other sessions. A number of us who had known him and worked with him gathered to tell stories and share reminiscences. We raised a glass to Maurice and a silent prayer to these negotiations. There will be a new draft from the President by tomorrow at 1 pm.

We can only hope it achieves the right balance between and among the competing interests while ensuring we meet Fabius' goal -- to save life on earth.