Late Sunday afternoon at Heathrow and changing planes en route home. I really should have written the wrap up blog on Saturday, but my mind played tricks on me.  I felt as though I had written it already from live-tweeting through the conference’s grueling last hours. But unless you were on twitter you missed it. So here’s a recap.

It’s Friday in Bonn at COP23 and negotiations continue in back rooms to resolve issues of long-term financing and details of various funds to assist developing countries. Still, within a few hours, the plenary rooms are booked for closing statements, so those residual issues are not likely to derail progress.

What is the nature of progress?

Every Conference of the Parties has a very similar schedule of work over a two week period.  Some have more work, more pressure and tougher issues to negotiate, but the pattern largely remains the same.  The first week is for diplomats and negotiators to work our final language and agreements on issues that themselves have been the subject of negotiations at various intermediate gatherings since last year’s COP.  Then, at mid-point on the second week, the subsidiary bodies finalize documents at plenary for a hand-over to their political masters.

This is an in between sort of COP.  I have said for years that there are “good cops and bad cops.”  This one is a pun waiting to happen, taken from the great Quebecois film “Bon Cop; Bad Cop.” This COP is the first Bonn COP.

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