Snowstorms in Copenhagen

Coming back to Copenhagen today for the last stages of COP15, there were snowstorms outside – a bit ironic considering the number of people inside talking about the possibilities of global warming – and some storminess inside as it becomes increasingly clear that there are many more COP15 delegates than the Bella Centre venue can hold (maximum 15,000).

The organisers are trying to manage this by restricting the number of observer delegates admitted – but of course this is thought in some circles to be anti-democratic, possibly leading to a "closed-shop" process for the crucial negotiations. So while we could get in last week with one badge, this week we need two badges – and your bloggers have now got the extra ones. So we will be back later in the week.

One more interesting piece of news I picked up today – the number of heads of government now expected to be here by the end of the week is greater than the total number of hotel suites in the city – so maybe there will be some ruffled diplomatic feathers too…

Peter Byass