Opening of AWP-LGA

Monday afternoon I attended the opening plenary of the Ad Hoc Working Group - Longterm Cooperative Action (AWG - LCA). As I'd missed the opening plenary for the conference, this was my intro to the formal meeting process. I took some photos with my phone (which aren't very good, and a short video of Louise Hand, the Australian Climate Ambassador, who is the spokesperson for the "Umbrella Group" - the group of countries of which Australia, US, Russia and a bundle of others are members. Again quality won't win any awards, but it may give you the feel or flavour.
The meeting opened with a welcome by the Chair, and the laying of the ground rules. You'll notice in one photo, a digital clock timer which runs while each party is speaking, to limit their contributions and perhaps give everyone a say. 5 minutes for each Group, 3 mins for individual country, and 2 mins for ad hoc comments, and from official organisations, such as ICAO/IMO. Most kept to the times, but a few had more to say...
I won't try to cover the content - you can better do that through the many dedicated reporters available elsewhere. Suffice to say it was a BIG hall (several thousand, with four enlarging screens for the plebs like me, at the back), and it started 20 minutes late and finished late (hence I missed the start of the Fossil presentation). Overall, it set a formal (positive) start, perhaps covering the frantic discussions taking place behind the scenes.


In the early evening I attended a presentation by a bundle of the developing countries including Albania, Boliviar, Congo, Georgia and Niger, each summarising the findings of their "SNC" (2nd reporting periods). Most were positive, supporting what may be termed the global warming agenda to various extents, and earnestly requesting further significant support from the Annex 1 ("developed") countries to assist with mitigation and adaptation, as well as more immediately to provide funding to enable the third period reporting to commence. Many are putting their faith in follow through and delivery on promised funding, especially for REDD (~=forest management and re-establishment).