It's Saturday and the work of the COP15 continues, although most of the meetings today are closed. Security was noticably tighter coming in this morning, as Ministers and the high-level delegations start arriving. Security is also especially strong today due to a mass protest that is expected to take place.
I was reflecting this morning on the different negotiating strengths of states here. Some countries have brought very large delegations, but a large number of small states have just a few delgates (slightly off-point, but while the Australian Prime Minister was having to defend a 117-strong delegation, the USA has 200 delegates, Brazil has 1,000 and the UK around 70 negotiatiors, it is interesting to note that green group Friends of the Earth has over 600 staff here).
There is a large globe in the main atrium area of the congress centre (pictured above) and just above New Zealand on that map should be the Cook Islands - it doesn't appear, along with a large number of other tiny island states (although more due to logistics than a deliberate snub, I expect). One of the Cook Island delegation stood on a chair the other day and wrote "Cook Islands" on the globe. A small action, but quite symbolic I think. The small island states have been very vocal in these negotiations - particularly Tuvalu - and it is only right that the developed world listens to them as they are the nations to be hit first and hardest by climate change. I also think it is important that the larger developing states listen to them too.
