Poland

The UN Climate Talks in Poznan went on late into the night last night. I left at about midnight, because frankly I could not understand a word of the proceedings. Every second word was an unfamiliar acronym, an obscure technical term, or a document reference number, so I left the Oxfam policy team to decipher what was happening and met up with them again in the morning.

So I'm sitting down to write today's blog, with my socks on the radiator and my free UN mittens on my icy feet, when I get the call. "Al Gore's giving a speech at 1.15!".  I had been about to describe in great detail the new Oxfam ice sculpture that was carved this morning at the entrance to the UN Climate Talks here in Poznan - in two massive blocks of ice - the cold, hard truth - "Delay Kills".

Rich countries have a habit of pointing out how emissions from emerging economies such as China and India are increasing rapidly. This is true - but we need to have a closer look at the facts...

Emission levels per head in China and India are far below those in developed countries. In fact, if every country had the same per capita emissions as China, we would be able to cut gobal emissions by 30% below 1990 levels. So which country's people have had the biggest average carbon footprints between 1990 and 2004? Drag the flags onto the feet in the diagram below to find out...

As ministers and leaders arrived yesterday in Poznan (Poland) for the last sprint of the UN Climate change conference in Poznan, 19 famous names called on wealthy nations to take the lead on climate change by making massive cuts in pollution.

Let's bury the idea that discussions on Climate Change are the preserve of scientists. Sure enough, debates on the issue are dominated by projections as to the speed of global warming, the levels of greenhouse gas emissions and so on, but at the heart of these discussions are people.

“Just tell the truth and write how you feel.” – good advice to the first-time, and quite tentative, blogger – and advice I will heed.  

The truth is, I feel colder than I have ever felt in my life.

I have just stood outside in sub-zero temperatures for five hours getting Oxfam’s message out to the hordes heading for the UN Climate Talks (without gloves, for more efficient leafleting) and I cannot feel my fingers. Typing this is proving to be v.e.r.y. s.l.o.w.

On a rest day at the UN Climate Talks in Poznan, Oxfam's Charlie Powell and Barry Coates retreat to their hotel to take stock of events at the first week of negotiations, and look forward to the arrival of the ministers in week two.

Today, in many cities, thousands of climate protesters from all over the world demanded that world leaders take strong and urgent action to prevent destabilisation of the global climate. They were asking leaders to move as rapidly as possible towards a fair and effective emissions reductions treaty.

We were, of course, at Poznan's march where more than a thousand people marched around the city centre.

"It will be the young and the poor and developing countries that will suffer earliest and hardest. We cannot allow this to happen."
Nicholas Stern - author of reports on economic implications of climate change.

Some people in Bangladesh have. Floods are actually part of their normal way of life. Now imagine you are one of them.