NWF’s Jeremy Symons: Mind the Gaps

Jeremy Symons, the National Wildlife Federation’s senior vice president, has a new post up over at Politico’s Copenhagen Arena

I write as Energy Secretary Chu announces a new U.S. commitment on financing for helping move clean energy technologies to the poorest nations of the world. The room is overflowing. In fact, the second and decisive week in Copenhagen begins with the sprawling Bella Center – where the talks are happening — bursting at the seams with tens of thousands of delegates, media and observers. It can take a quarter of an hour just to walk from the entrance to the far reaches of meeting rooms — and it’s swarming with people the whole way.

Those who arrived over the weekend stood shoulder to shoulder in the cold with thousands of others to get credentials, taking up to 4 hours or more. The UN is creating new systems on the fly to limit access and manage the crowds. Latest unofficial word is that only 1,000 of the tens of thousands of observers will be allowed in on Thursday, and 90 on Friday, when President Obama and other heads of states are here.

When 120 foreign leaders converge on Copenhagen later this week, they will need to watch their step for other reasons – minding the two “gaps” that have turned these negotiations into a minefield.

To read about those two “gaps,” read the full post at Politico’s Copenhagen Arena.

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Published: December 14, 2009