UN's de Boer Explains Bali Tears and Comma's Silent Impact, Branson Dodges, Steiner's Secrecy

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/ga1climate021108.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 11 -- "You can't hear a comma," UN climate change point-man Yvo de Boer told Inner City Press on Monday. He'd been asked about the negotiations in Bali in December, specifically about his widely-seen but little understood crying jag near the end of the conference. While the voice-over on a number of global television broadcasts of his tears had ascribed them to the tenseness of the talks or the state of the planet, de Boer on Monday confirmed that he'd been accused by China of holding two sets of negotiations over two sets of documents. He said there had been confusion about when the informal talks ended, and the formal ones began. The rest, he said, "will be for my book." Video here.

Afterwards, off-camera, de Boer said he "felt bad" for the Americans, who were "put in an uncomfortable position" by a comma not enunciated by the Indian delegation at the talks. As de Boer recounts it, the talk was of a sentence providing that developing countries should take real, measurable and verifiable actions ... but should be provided with real, measurable and verifiable financial resources into order do that. The question left unanswered by the reading, according to de Boer, was whether "real, measurable and verifiable" referred only to money, or related to other provisions. The U.S. was left out on a limb, and Yvo de Boer regrets it.

Asked about coal by Inner City Press, de Boer said that moratorium on coal use is not realistic, but there are still legitimate questions about whether carbon buried via "capture and store" technology will in fact stay buried. At least de Boer answered this question. An hour earlier, in the same room but with many more journalists present, Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Airways dodged the identical coal question from Inner City Press, answering instead about biofuels. After saying that corn ethanol does not, on balance, reduce dirty energy emissions, Branson admitted that he is invested in corn biofuel. Daryl Hannah, shrugging off the UN press corps' jokes about mermaids -- based, it seems, on her appearance in the 1980s movie "Splash" -- answered that biofuels are best when made from waste, or even algae. Video here.

In the Trusteeship Council chamber as afternoon turned to dusk, Sha Zukang of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs concluded with what he called, to some laughter, "propaganda from DESA." Kemal Devis of the UN Development Program -- and formerly of the World Bank -- said that the World Bank has a role in middle income countries. While the director of the UN Environment Program Aichem Steiner speechified, UN correspondents with time on their hands noted that Steiner is not listed as participating in any way in the UN's financial disclosure program. We'll have more on this.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ga1climate021108.html

Post-Bali, UN Blames China for Breakdown of de Boer, Mr. Ban's Game Face Described

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/bali121807.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 18 -- Anyone who says that the climate change meetings in Bali weren't a success, the UN's Bob Orr told the press on Tuesday, "wasn't at the same meetings I was at." But Al Gore was quoted that "the maximum now considered possible here in this conference is still far short of the minimum that will really solve this process." Inner City Press asked if Al Gore, then, was at the same meeting. Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson responded deadpan that Mr. Ban and Gore had been together. There is a photo to prove it.

But what of the UN's Yvo de Boer breaking down in tears? Television stations which used the clip said that it showed how tense the talks were. But Tuesday after his formal briefing, Orr told Inner City Press that the Chinese delegation had accused de Boer of a lack of transparency, for some of the side meetings going on. That had pushed de Boer to the breaking point. He wept and said he'd been unaware of the side meetings. Orr also said that China was very constructive. Of course.

Of the side-story of Ban's subsequently-cancelled plan to fly from the Far East to New York to attend half of a Carnegie Hall concert to raise funds for a cultural center in South Korea, Orr laughed and said he hadn't heard of it while in Bali. Another reporter doubted this, since Ban nevertheless appeared at the concert by video message, apologizing. But maybe things really were that busy in Bali.

The UN Development Program had issued a report calling on China and India to commit to emission caps, a position with which the UN's Dr. Pachauri publicly disagreed. Inner City Press asked Orr about this split, but did not get an answer. Video here. Monday night, UNDP's Ad Melkert brushed off a request for a read-out on his UNDP-funded time in Bali. Perhaps we'll hear more, from Mr. Ban himself. It is said that when he returned to the Bali meetings on Saturday, the hall broke into applause. "They wanted a deal," Orr interpreted. We'll see.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/bali121807.html

As UN's Ban Heads to Bali, Caps on Greenhouse Gas by Poorer Countries is the Question

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee at the UN
www.innercitypress.com/ban1bali120607.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 6 -- As Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon prepares to travel to the climate change summit in Bali, Thursday he read prepared remarks and took questions from the UN press corps. The topics ranged from Darfur -- the lack of helicopters and the UN's $250 million no-bid infrastructure contract with Lockheed Martin -- through Lebanon, Kosovo and Iran before any global warming question was asked. Inner City Press sought Ban's position:

Inner City Press: The UN Development Program issued a report that's recommended, among other things, that even developing countries like China and India, commit to caps of emissions. But Dr. [Rajendra] Pachauri of the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] and India have both been critical of the report, calling it misplaced to call in advance for those caps. What's your position? Do you think that all countries, including relatively lower income developing countries, like India and China, should commit to hard caps on emission of greenhouse gases?

SG: On this special issue of capping the greenhouse gas emission reduction, I know that there are different positions in the international community. As far as I am concerned, as Secretary-General, as a matter of principle, there should be mandatory capping. However, I know that there are some concerns in some of the developing countries, therefore, this issue should be discussed in the future negotiation process. My goal, or target at this time, is to first of all, launch the negotiation with a timeline, with the future agenda. But my hope is that, in the source of future negotiations, [the] international community will be able to agree on this issue.

But in Bali so far, India and China are leading a group which is turning the tables on the developed countries, "demanding a legally binding instrument that would force rich countries to transfer clean technologies that they (and their industries) hold intellectual property rights to and also pay poor countries for adaptation to climate change consequences." This call was echoed Thursday at the UN in New York, in testimony to the General Assembly by China's Deputy Ambassador Liu Zhenmin.

Coal, major source of emissions, was not mentioned on Thursday, only new fangled light bulbs and appliances. Nor did Ban say if he will be carbon offsetting his trip to Indonesia.

In his prepared remarks, Ban referred to himself as a "climate change evangelist, banging a drum and calling on the world to follow." Clearly, there are alternative religions, and some who are ignoring the drum.

News [production] analysis: Ban Ki-moon seems to be eschewing sit-down press conferences. Thursday his staff installed a new microphone at the stand-up stakeout in front of the Security Council, with a lectern for Ban to rest his prepared remarks on. "This is new," Ban said before he began. Reporters asked if there would be an end-of-year press conference and were told, no. Some reporters have concluded that Mr. Ban is being mis-advised. An off-the-record briefing for major wire services was organized later on Thursday; another less select group may or may not be invited by Ban on December 21, when he is slated to be back from Bali. How will the coming two weeks be judged? Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban1bali120607.html