Last Sunday, the chilling news that climate change talks could break down completely led to apprehension in the Danish capital and around the world.
Negotiators and ministers from 192 countries took the day off from formal talks to discuss the looming possibility that they could fail the world in the search for an agreement to prevent disastrous climate change.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Premier Wen Jiabao, made it clear that they were not going to come in at the end of the talks to crack the fine details, they would agree only if the industrialized world was ready for a deal by December 16. Many industrialized countries remained firm in their stand that Kyoto Protocol must die and emerging economies must undertake international obligations under one name or the other regardless of their historical burden of emitting greenhouse gases, or the lack of it.
The negotiations continued and so did the drama. The heart of the Danish capital was taken over by environmentalists and anti-capitalist demonstrators on a 6km march to the venue of the ongoing UN conference. Also, Island nation Tuvalu led a group of developing countries in a walkout last Wednesday, forcing an unprecedented closure of the conference for a few hours.
Tuvalu and other small island nations - most vulnerable to rising seas as a result of climate change - wanted a far stronger treaty out of Copenhagen than is currently being considered. When, at the start of the morning's plenary session, the chair did not take up the Tuvalu proposal in this regard, the Pacific nation's representative led some other developing countries in a walkout, forcing a halt to the session.
The walkout was the most dramatic demonstration of developing countries' frustration that rich nations are unwilling to cut their emissions of greenhouse gases.
These differences continue to stall the negotiations and a possible global treaty to combat climate change. We will be monitoring the news closely as is everyone else.
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