A green jamboree in Indonesia will not achieve anything tangible, but it matters
If size is a measure of importance, the meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that starts in Bali on December 3rd is a big deal. Somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 politicians, officials, activists and journalists are expected to attend, stretching the Indonesian island's resources to breaking-point. “It's a nightmare for those of us who are actually working on the agenda,” says an official who is attending. “We won't be able to get internet access or food.” The recent floods in parts of Indonesia (shown above) may help concentrate minds.
The numbers of people pouring into Bali next week do at least demonstrate that the political profile of climate change has risen over the past year. Nobody whose job touches on global warming can afford to be absent. And the issue that the meeting is primarily about—how the world should try to mitigate climate change when the Kyoto protocol runs out in 2012—is crucial.
The omens, too, are good. Those who support a global agreement along the lines of Kyoto, based on targets for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions, got a boost from the results of the Australian elections. Kevin Rudd, the country's new prime minister, has promised to reverse his predecessor's policy and ratify Kyoto.
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