Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT: A is for ARCANE– the arcane world of negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), adopted by acclamation at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It spawned conferences of the parties (COPs), held annually so that the issue would never slide off the international agenda. Copenhagen is “COP 15”, it will go on for two full weeks and is expected to attract up to 17,000 participants from 192 countries.

The location of this travelling circus – as some might see it – changes from year to year, including such exotic places as Bali and Marrakech, and not so exotic ones like Montreal and Poznan. But everywhere it goes, the drill remains the same – a seemingly endless round of talks that ebb and flow, culminating in a “high-level segment” for the final three days, when environment ministers and even heads of state or government join the jamboree.