Watch FIFA World Cup 2026™

LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE

Climate talks resemble classroom

It's crunch time at the climate talks in Paris with most negotiations moved behind closed doors and extended throughout the night.

At times, United Nations climate talks take you back to school days.

After delivering the latest draft agreement text, the conference president, Fabius Laurent, delivered the homework.

"You have several hours to really study this text," he instructed delegates at 3pm local time on Wednesday, telling them to report back no later than 8pm.

"You need to be ready to be working overnight and tomorrow."

There are 196 parties arguing over a deal in Paris, but only 80 seats at the table in the main negotiating room.

Like an A+ student, Australia arrives early to get its seat at the front of the classroom.

Countries switch out experts as required.

They can sleep in offices at the centre, but Australia encourages those not needed to go back to their hotel and switch off while they can.

The occasional negotiator on his way home in the early hours bumps into another on their way back to the conference.

Even the highest profile ministers aren't guaranteed an early night.

It's understood United States Secretary of State John Kerry wandered into the negotiating room about 2am on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop escaped to host a stakeholder dinner, although she was on call in case things got ugly.

Overnight negotiations were mainly fruitless.

That's one of the reasons Ms Bishop wasn't called in - sleep was judged more crucial than participating in stalled talks, particularly with days of the same still to go.

Mr Laurent patiently waited until 5am while every party stated their positions - the same ones that have been repeated over and over during the 11 days of discussions.

That's the culture of these climate talks and presumably allows parties to gradually get close in position, although parties are, at this stage, still deeply divided on several key issues.

The conference deadline of Friday night has more or less been thrown out the window, despite the French insisting it's still the goal.

It will be a long night again on Thursday night, with another draft agreement delivered around dinner time and another block of negotiations scheduled overnight.


2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Watch now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world