COPENHAGEN — Writers are often cautioned not to use the word “unique” but it appears that this is the best description of me as a new arrival in Copenhagen. Trying to save on carbon and cash, I tolerated the circular bus ride through wet traffic from the central railway station to the Bella Center, where the climate change negotiations are taking place. I’ve attended many UN climate conferences in the past, and recall regretting on several occasions the long registration lines at peak arrival times. On this cold, dark and rainy evening in Copenhagen, I was confident that this scenario was not in my future. In the end, I was right. I hardly made it two steps into the conference center when I was told that the registration desk closed at 6 pm. “You’re the only person in the world who didn’t know this,” I was told by the ornery badge checker.

As I shivered outside, dreaming of long indoor cues I texted warmer colleagues in the Bella Center. “This is like nothing before – CRAZY!” wrote veteran climate delegate and policy guru Ellina Levina of the Center for Clean Air Policy. Other colleagues reported of progress in a number of areas of the negotiation, especially on the institutional architecture needed to deliver clean energy and adaptation technologies to developing countries. Near-term financing to implement these technologies will be decided next week. Also on the inside, Yvo De Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, shared his views on the Kyoto Protocol (most likely in a dry and heated room). He said that the Kyoto Protocol is the only legally binding instrument we have for now and until a new treaty emerges, there’s no reason to abandon it. Secondly, the Kyoto Protocol created the infrastructure of the global carbon market. Without it, the global carbon market won’t function. When a new treaty does materialize, this market infrastructure needs to be incorporated to sustain a strong carbon market. Project Catalyst estimates such a market could drive roughly $2 trillion in annual investment in clean technologies by 2020 if emissions caps are set to limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius. At the same time, De Boer acknowledges the need for a process that engages the United States and broader participation of developing countries. The United States has made it clear that it will not join the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty that was firmly rejected by Congress even before it was finalized. Contemplating participation in the Kyoto Protocol would be political suicide for President Obama.
While it took some digging, I did find the registration desk hours on the UNFCCC website, on the fourth page of an “information for participants” booklet, but I’m sure you already knew that.

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