From Copenhagen: Chaos and cold cloud over climate talks

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It's been three days now in this cold cold country and the only way to describe the COP15 Copenhagen Summit is ABSOLUTE CHAOS! Whether its the negotiations, or the organisational abilities of the hosts, every process has been in disarray. Monday morning as temperatures dipped to -2 degrees Celsius, over one thousand people stood in the queue outside the Bella Centre, the main venue of the COP15.

Along with me were over 10 journalists from print and TV networks across India, including Sunita Narain from the Centre for Science and Environment, waiting patiently to be let in. Minutes went into hours, and the queue outside was over 2 km long, with no signs of any of us being let in, and the temperatures continue to dip further. No water, no food, thousands waited patiently, in the hope of being let in to this historic summit. This despite the fact that we had all got our accreditation done online.

After waiting for 7 hours in the biting cold, only 6 of us managed to get in. The rest were roughed up by the Danish police, and frustrated, just went home. While by some stroke of luck I did manage to get in, my colleagues at NDTV and Aaj Tak had to go back to their hotels. We are all still unable to understand why the crowd management could not have been done better.

Tuesday morning as I write this there are again thousands standing in the cold outside, with no signs of anyone being let in today as well. To make matters worse the train station at Bella Centre has been shut down as they can't deal with the swelling crowd. I can't but help wonder - if this was India, by now some chaiwallah would have emerged, some food stalls would have instantly cropped up, but here in Denmark, people stood quiet, tired and hungry for hours. Surely the UNFCCC could have done a better job!

But the bad management on the part of the UNFCCC is not even close to the other real story which is playing out at the COP15 negotiations. The mood inside is sombre as delegates in business suits move around scurrying from room to room huddled in conversation with each other. The deadlock between the rich and the emerging nations continues and no solution seems to be in sight. I attended a press conference by the G77 group late last night. And the negotiators once again could give a ringside view of whats happening inside - 'every step of the way we are being stalled by the developed nation' - was their main lament.

With only three days left for the conference to end, no solution still seems to be in sight. As each nation tom-toms their proud attempts at geopolitical posturing at every meeting, planet earth is going to be the biggest loser. That is the only truth emerging from all this chaos.