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C O V E RThe venue of the 1997 talks in Kyoto, Japan which resulted in the eponymously titledProtocol. After Durban, many developing countries are concerned that there is stillno legally binding second commitment period as envisaged under the Protocol.delegations to go back to open – andwe start tit for tat and then back tochicken and egg and then we will getourselves back to where we started,which will not be correct,’ she said.Macey said that in the course ofthe last few days and most recently atthe plenary of the AWGKP, Partieswould be very well aware of the majorconcerns of Parties on parts of thetext. It is a difficult process to reachconsensus here. He reiterated that hedid review very carefully all proposalsand suggestions heard at the(AWGKP) plenary and he needed toassess if any of the changes could beagreed and whether this could disturbthe very delicate political balance thathad been achieved. He reiterated thatthe text before the CMP was his assessmentof where consensus couldbe found.The President then continued toread the other elements of the decision(on matters related to emissionstrading, greenhouse gas inventoriesetc) and proposed that these decisionsbe a part of the comprehensive Durbanoutcome.She gavelled, and in the midst ofapplause Bolivia asked to speak.Bolivia said it asked for the floorand waited respectfully for the Presidentto finish. It was referring to thedocument to make observations andsuddenly it was approved. As Partiesthey had the right to make observations.It did not want to be an obstacleto that but it had the right to presentobservations. It wanted an outcome.It asked for registration of the fact thatit did not agree with paragaphs 3 and12bis of the document that had beenapproved. ‘We are a Party and we askyou please to respect our opinion.’Nkoana-Mashabane told Boliviaits request would be noted and immediatelyproceeded to resume the COP17 session to adopt COP decisions.(The COP was convened right afterthe CMP but done in such a hurriedfashion, without first acknowledgingthose who still wanted to speak, thatthere was confusion over the formalitiesof the two legally distinctplenaries.)The Secretariat at this point drewher attention to Nicaragua that hadalso asked to speak.Nicaragua said it also had askedfor the floor previously. It clarifiedthat the ALBA group had made itsproposal twice, once in the ministerialmeeting and the second time inthe AWGKP meeting. Therefore itwould expect that if the (Chair of theworking group) had his observation,(Parties) could receive an explanationfor why the Chair was not in agreementrather than having a wholesaleelimination of all the proposals. Thiswas essential so that the approval bythe (Parties) could be done with fullinformation and queries, preoccupationsand concerns could be addressedin a spirit of frank, open and fraternaldialogue looking at producing a realconsensus and not an apparent consensus.It said that when its concerns herehad not been clarified – it had had nodialogue on them – this even becamea matter of whether the consultationprocesses were real when somethingwas presented two times but was ignored.‘It does not mean every recommendationis going to be approved.Quite obviously, you win some andyou lose some. But to lose them all,and you do not get any explanation,really does not seem to be appropriate.’As for the package that the EUmentioned, Nicaragua said that not allof them were in on the package.‘There are not two classes of sovereignstates here – those in the packageand those outside. Our opinionsare just as worthy in international lawand just as worthy in reaching thesedecisions as those inside the package.’Nicaragua said that the AWGKPChair did not have to waste time andcould dialogue with it on its proposals.They could do so in the spirit ofimproving and fortifying the documentas well as addressing concerns.Nkoana-Mashabane said shewould allow the AWGKP Chair to dialoguewith Nicaragua and went on tosay, ‘With your permission I ask thatwe continue, and I thank you for yourcontribution and your understanding.’Japan then said that it is in a positionto follow the consensus butwanted to make sure it is not in a positionto submit its QELRO and willsend a letter to the Secretary to makesure its position is respected (i.e. itwill not take part in the second commitmentperiod).With that the CMP 7 plenary wasended.ÿuChee Yoke Ling is Director of Programmes at theThird World Network.THIRD WORLD RESURGENCE No 255/25630