By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/uncope7offmessage120809.html
UNITED NATIONS, December 8 -- As 15,000 climate change conference participants fly into Copenhagen, corporations stand to profit whether or not the deal is sealed, sometimes by outright lying.
In a final pre-conference press conference in New York on December 4, the UN's Janos Pasztor painted a relentlessly upbeat picture of "Hopenhagen." Inner City Press asked, based off an article in a trade publication, if Goodyear would in fact be displaying tires inside the convention hall.
Yes, Pasztor said, there will be exhibitions. What about a claim by Bahrain's Gulf Petrochemical Industries that it is an "official sponsor" of the Copenhagen conference? Pasztor said he hadn't heard of the claim, that that the UN conference has no corporate sponsors.
After the press conference, Inner City Press showed Pasztor the press release. We'll see. Since the question, while the Gulf Petrochemical Industries' press release has not been withdrawn, Telsa Motors has announced it will provide test drives of cars at the Belsa Center.
Inner City Press also asked Pasztor how many UN system officials, staff and consultants will be attending the Copenhagen meetings. Pasztor wouldn't provide a number, instead saying that it wouldn't be clear until the conference started.
But when UN spokesman Martin Nesirky was asked the same question on December 7, the first day of the conference, he did not provide an answer, at the briefing or in the 12 hours after.
To the spokesman for General Assembly President Ali Treki Inner City Press asked:
Inner City Press: is the President, is Ali Treki going to go to Copenhagen at any point?
Spokesperson Nkolo: No. Unless this changes in the next few days, no he is not going.
Watch this site.
And see, www.innercitypress.com/uncope7offmessage120809.html
