15 December 2009 second post

News from the inside

My other office is a step

Just to set the scene: we generally write our blogs from our make shift office here - a carpeted step and a power socket - I imagine it’s a bit like Google’s offices, although I expect they have lots of cushions and Guitar Hero to play when they get a creative block! I will appreciate the creature comforts of our office all the more on my return.

We got to the Bella Centre at 8am today in an attempt to make it inside before the reduced NGO allocation was filled. Though most of us got in, one of our colleagues was turned away as registration closed before they got to the front of the line – they had been waiting freezing in the snow for hours. The NGO stands here are very quiet due to the reduced allocation, and the area will become a ghost town at the end of the week. The political delegations will be able to work un-challenged; we are disappointed.

Don’t get me wrong though there have been some great high points in the day – the eco-glitterati have been here in force and I was lucky to see a good selection: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wangaari Mathai, Ban Ki Moon and Achim Steiner. The common message running through their talks was basically that we shouldn’t despair if we don’t get the international deal we had hoped for because any deal will be a start that we can build on and we can also strive for better results and have power at a regional, municipal, local and individual level. Also I hear Boris Johnson, with his usual brand of public school brashness, gave a good presentation today basically telling everyone to buck up and get on with it, and take advantage of the green business opportunities. These combined messages really were the tonic that we needed as we had started to get a bit pessimistic, and our Director, Sue - who is usually optimism personified - has had some teary moments, sniff.

I’m not entirely sure what level of prominence is being given to the conference back home, but as usual I know that protester violence will be given more than its fair share of column inches. My dad texted me to say that he’d bail me out if I got arrested – thanks Dad!

Jennie Organ
Communications Manager