Guest contribution by Eric Worrall
They couldn’t make it up; Internet disruption, delegates too lazy to align time zones, and China refuses to allow observers to attend transparency negotiations.
Climate change: Virtual UN talks are making little progress
By Matt McGrath
Environmental correspondent
Exhausted delegates completed three weeks of virtual climate negotiations with little progress on key issues.
The UN sub-committee meeting was supposed to clear the decks ahead of the major COP26 meeting in Glasgow in November.
But technical glitches and multiple time zones thwarted attempts to find common ground.
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Developing countries also fear that a shortage of vaccines could limit their attendance at the Glasgow conference.
However, the UK says it will ensure that all accredited delegates get their jabs before the summit.
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The challenges of delegates in different time zones with different internet connections made these difficult negotiations a real struggle.
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“I think this has been a technical challenge for many parties, connectivity issues have exacerbated and complicated existing trust deficits,” said Quamrul Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi climate negotiator.
“Even the low hanging fruit could not be harvested,” he told BBC News.
In addition to the technical challenges, there were problems with access for observers as China refused to be present at transparency talks.
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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-57520510
I suspect that the COP26 will continue despite this chaotic run-up. I mean, it’s not like you expect real progress at a COP conference, even in a normal year.
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