What Happened in Bali? A synopsis from www.Avaaz.org. Read and be amazed!
“In the final hours of the conference, all the pressure showed its impact. Heated negotiations had ended in repeated deadlock. The deadline for the conference was extended another 24 hours, and diplomats worked through the night. Japan gave in quickly to the consensus, but the US and Canada held out. The biggest and clearest victory achieved was on the Canadian government’s position. Under pressure from all sides and massive domestic anger, the Canadian government finally did a complete U-turn, and allowed the smaller group of Kyoto countries to agree to reduce carbon emissions by 25-40% by 2020. This significant step means that the richest countries - all except the US - have now set ambitious new targets for emissions reductions.
The US - now completely isolated - still held out. In the final general session, a compromise proposal was suggested that was accepted by every delegation. The United States took the floor — and rejected it.
The world is used to letting the US have its way, but not this time. The assembled delegations let loose a chorus of boos. Nation after nation took the floor and sounded the chords of outrage. Just like hundreds of thousands of Avaaz members told them to do, our leaders stood firm.
Faced with this united front, the American representative asked to take the floor once more, and said simply, “The United States will join the consensus.” Victory.
It was not at all a complete victory - we are still far from the treaty with binding global targets that will stop catastrophic climate change. But the massive grass roots response to save the Bali Summit shows that a great people-powered movement to save our environment is stirring - and this is just the beginning.”
