Wetenschap - 28 oktober 2010
Thursday, 28 October: Strange day
Wageningen scientist Ingrid Visseren-Hamakers is in Nagoya to attend the Convention of Biological Diversity. She keeps a diary for Resource.
Decisions
Naturally, this package deal is being developed at the Ministerial level. A few times a day the civil servant negotiators from the European Union are briefed on the latest developments. While these high-level negotiations are going on, the technical negotiations are continuing in parallel. They should be finalized by the end of the day, so tomorrow the plenary session can take final decisions on all issues.
IPBES
The negotiations on the issues that I have followed over the past two weeks, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and climate change & biodiversity were finalized this morning, so my active work is finished. If all goes well, the plenary tomorrow will welcome the development of IPBES, a scientific advisory body for biodiversity-related institutions. The draft text on biodiversity & climate change is not as ambitious as I would have liked to see it, but the result is the most that could be reached in the system of decision-making through consensus.
Hopes are up
I am now waiting for the outcome on the other issues. It will be a long afternoon and evening of waiting; this is especially difficult due to lack of sleep and regular meals. International negotiations are not good for your health, that's for sure. Contrary to earlier this week (see my Tuesday blog), the hopes are up for a successful outcome. On Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) and the strategic plan, the parties are trying to overcome differences, although the differences are still huge, especially on ABS. All I can do now is to wait for news from the Ministerial negotiations...
Oh, by the way, the closest I got to Harrison Ford (see my Tuesday blog) is seeing pictures of his speech at an event which was for invitees only. Perhaps I will be luckier at the next COP?