Bali Blogları

One day to go and a new crisis has emerged at the climate change talks. Not US obstructionism, and not a lack of motivation from the Chinese. No, the greatest threat to the safe future of the planet now seems to be a lack of photocopiers.

The red carpets are out and men with assault rifles now mingle with sunbathers on the Bali beaches. The high level segment of the talks have begun, and things are starting to get serious...

Well, almost. The fight to save the planet did take a surreal twist today when delegates were treated to a musical plea to "save it for our children" penned by the president of Indonesia.

Things have moved fast today, with a second draft of the required Bali roadmap produced, and a third due later tonight. Tomorrow sees the start of the high level segment of the talks, with ministers getting to sit behind the national name badges. Disappointingly, there are no little flags (I checked).

Hello from Bali. And let's not pretend otherwise, this is an extremely pleasant place to hold a UN climate meeting. Heck, any kind of meeting. The beaches slope down towards rolling surf for miles in each direction. The temperature hovers around the 30C mark and most of the hotels are top-of-the-pile luxury. Do we need to be in Bali, a good two flights away for most attendees?

Avatars attend a virtual Bali UN climate change conference in Second Life

Whilst delegates and activists from 180 nations - estimated to be in the region of around 10,000 people and causing as much pollution as 20,000 cars in one year - have jetted out to Bali to participate in the UN climate change conference, you can actually take part from the comfort of your own chair.

India's position on climate change must come under scrutiny now. Despite the government's propaganda about a low per capita emission, the country could soon find itself top of CO2 emission chart.

I know a woman called Sharon, an unusual name for a Maasai pastoralist. Ask her what climate change means to her Maasai communities and she'll tell you about erratic weather patterns, and the catastrophe of drought and hunger that threatens them and other poor communities across the world. Above all Sharon Looremeta will tell you of the responsibility we in industrialised countries have to tackle a problem that we have created but which will impact worst upon the most vulnerable and least responsible.

As the UN climate change conference hots up in Bali we bring you comments from bloggers and sites around the world.

Jason Anderson at Gristmill in the US compares the climate change negotiations to choosing which video to rent.

The announcement yesterday that 33 of the top companies in the world had promised to cut their emissions by 90% come 2050 looked to good to be true...It was.

There are probably worse ways to spend the first week of December than holed up in Nusa Dua luxury hotel resort on the southern tip of the Indonesian island of Bali.

But as thousands of attendees now head to this tropical paradise for the UN's climate change conference that starts on Monday, the rest of the world must hope those visiting are not too distracted by the option of getting a round in at the adjacent Bali Golf and Country Club, or taking a dip in of the resort hotel's three swimming pools.

This is not the normal overseas conference jolly many in business are rewarded with each year, but arguably the most important meeting of world leaders that will take place this year, perhaps for several years.