Wednesday Morning, 4 A.M.

Elizabeth was making pancakes, coffee was brewing, and another day of COP21 was about to start. It took a while, but eventually the plenary session titled “Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP), 3rd meeting” began. It was a bit hard to follow what was actually being discussed or decided, especially because I’m not all familiar with the details of the Kyoto Protocol. However, it was still very interesting to watch, and Elizabeth’s pancakes were very good.

Some progress, or lack of progress, was discussed as the room moved through the agenda. A focal point was the Doha Amendment, which has yet to to enter into force and establish the next commitment period of the protocol. According to one of the reports read during the plenary, this holdup essentially means that activity on joint implementation of the protocol has “virtually stopped”.

The most exciting and confusing moment of the plenary occurred when China proposed the creation of a contact group to discuss June 2014’s high-level ministerial round table on increased ambition for Kyoto Protocol commitments. The European Union did not seem to think this was a worthwhile use of time, and voiced their objection, stating that there was already a report on this issue. China’s representative, however, asserted their extreme displeasure at this objection. They also reminded the room that, “climate change is happening at an accelerating pace,” as if they all didn’t know that already. This discussion went back and forth a couple of times, with the EU essentially saying that the event took place, the report is there, let’s move on. Australia and Norway both chimed in to side with the European Union. Eventually, the chair proposed that discussions on this issue be had outside of the plenary, and the proceedings quietly ended.

As an international negotiation first-timer, I was puzzled as to what the real sticking points were. Was China actually concerned about the remaining issues from the round table, or were there more subtle issues at play here? Could China just have been stalling?

The morning also provided some interesting side events. My favorite character: this person asking about Canada’s INDC.