Palin: Obama Should Boycott Copenhagen

Hue and Cry Over the Logo

The Chinese delegation decidedly has many worries. Not only are its members turned away (see below), but what’s more, it finds the conference logo annoying. You don’t see the problem with this planet of intertwined threads? China does: “COP 15” (the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)) is spelled out on the logo, but Kyoto is not.” This logo does not give me a comfortable feeling,” shot off Su Wei, representing the Chinese delegation, during the plenary session. “It gives us the impression that the Kyoto Protocol does not exist or has become extinct. We should give serious consideration to this phenomenon,” he said, and put pressure to bear so that the next logos are designed with more attention.

Copenhagen According to Sarah Palin

In a column published in the Washington Post, the former candidate for vice president of the United States is categorical: Obama should not go to Copenhagen. Why? Because, Sarah Palin thinks, “What Obama really hopes to bring home from Copenhagen is more pressure to pass the Democrats’ cap-and-tax proposal [on regulating greenhouse gasses]. This is a political move. The last thing America needs is misguided legislation that will raise taxes and cost jobs…” Palin’s conclusion: “The president should boycott Copenhagen.”

184 Euros per Night

A survey informs us that the price of hotels in Copenhagen has increased by 19% in December — one has to wonder why.

Die In

Efforts to tackle the issue of climate change are not only happening in Copenhagen, but also in Rome, where Greenpeace members are lying down for the climate (seen from above, one can read “act now”).

Red Badge

There’s a snag at the entrance of the Bella Center, negotiations headquarters. A duly badged Chinese minister paid the price this morning, sparking protests at the summit. “My distinguished minister was prevented from entering the conference venue on the third day of the conference,” complained Su Wei, head of the Chinese delegation in Copenhagen. “He’s a minister; he had a red badge, but was refused entry. Politely, he went to request a pink (delegate’s) badge but was again refused, and then his two badges were confiscated by security.”

Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UNFCCC, reassured that such an incident “would not happen again,” admitting to an “enormous deficit here” in terms of security and this is not going to improve before next week’s arrival of 110 heads of state… and their delegations.

The Bella Center can only accommodate 15,000 people, whereas 34,000 requests for authorization have been recorded to date.

And During this Time…

…the ice bear in Copenhagen is melting.

South Africa

Copenhagen has barely launched into the heart of the matter when one already starts thinking about the next one in Mexico, where the 16th conference will be held next year, and South Africa, which will welcome the following one in 2011, as Connie Hedegaard, the Danish president of the Copenhagen conference, announced this morning.