Hopenhagen to Flopenhagen

It's taken me a while to recover from Copenhagen and when I read the news reports I still find it hard to acknowledge what happened and what it means for the future. The news stories haven't gotten better with climate deniers getting media space, the UNFCCC executive secretary leaving and climate policy implementation both in the USA and Australia looking grim. I'm also trying hard to find something to blame. Was it the tedious queues in the freezing weather, or the lack of toilets in the conference centre, the lack of Vitamin E (I didn’t see the sun for 3 weeks), was it the fact that for months expectations for Copenhagen were lowered to such an extent that there was never any chance to get a “legally-binding deal” or was it the Chinese, the Americans, the Europeans or the egotistical Danish President? ...whatever it takes to get rid of the hangover that is Cop-out-hagen.

To say I’m disappointed about the outcome is obvious but the question on everyone’s mind is what now? Kyoto was supposed to be the first step and now everyone is saying that the Copenhagen Accord – a political declaration – is the first step. It feels like we’ve just got backwards. Politicians, the media and negotiators have a way of lowering expectations – and these were lowered below sea-level in Copenhagen. And with 115 Heads of State coming to Denmark – something, anything had to happen. So they lowered the expectations and instead of negotiating on real text to deliver a strong legally-binding solution – they wasted time arguing about killing the Kyoto Protocol, arguing about what compensation oil countries should receive if developed countries reduce emissions, argued about how much to pay, how much developed countries could use the carbon market to offset their emissions or gain credits from forestry instead of reducing fossil fuel emissions, about what to measure and verify and about who was in charge. Environment Ministers came to this meeting and sat around for 5 days, instead of negotiating and providing the political input that was necessary to get a deal. Because of this Heads of Government had to sit down to write text. The Brazilian President put it the best when he articulated that he had to participate in meetings that quite frankly heads of state shouldn’t participate in.

The biggest question is what does this mean for the UN system? If five countries can agree on a deal that the rest of the world is suppose to accept how is this democratic? The spirit of compromise meant that those countries with the most to lose had to compromise and those that didn’t have anything to lose got their own way (i.e. USA and China). What does this mean now for Kyoto? The first commitment period ends in 2012 and the intention at Copenhagen was to negotiate a second commitment period and find a way to bring the USA and other more advanced developing countries in. It took 5 years to negotiate Kyoto, 10 years to implement it and now we have to negotiate something new. A Brazilian negotiator once said does that mean it will take 15 years to negotiate the next one? If it takes that long we’re in deep trouble. The small island states were negotiating that greenhouse gas emissions peak by 2015 to ensure that we can stay below 1.5 degrees because the real impacts of sea-level rise, ocean acidification and more extreme hurricanes are becoming a reality. My colleagues have done an analysis of what the pledges countries have put forward really mean and it leaves the world heading to over 3°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100 http://www.climateactiontracker.org/

I’ve been working on the UN climate negotiations now for over four years and Copenhagen was the busiest and the messiest I’ve ever seen - the politics was to blame and so was the process of the Danish President. The overwhelming emotion is one of utter exhaustion. 2009 was filled with 6 official UN meetings, one trip to Grenada for a small islands states meeting and long office hours. I got through with the help of Simon, his never-ending support and excellent kitchen skills, friends coming to visit and living with us, emails and skype video and finally having Jennifer in Copenhagen in the media centre. So now I’m regaining my strength to continue the fight. I’ve learnt heaps from my colleagues who understand the science all too well and the negotiators from the small island states who understand what the impacts will be all too well. The ABC did this excellent interview with the Prime Minister of Tuvalu highlighting just how important this is... http://www.abc.net.au/rn/breakfast/stories/2009/2774089.htm

In the new year Simon and I travelled through Copenhagen on our way to Germany from Sweden on the train. I was really daunted about going back to the city where it had all gone so horribly wrong but Simon took me on a bicycle tour of Copenhagen, the sun came out and we were bicycle tourists, checking out all the fabulous bicycle lanes all over the city. Each new bicycle lane boosted my optimism. I learnt that the traffic lights are set to the average speed of cyclists going around the city so that they don't have to stop at red lights. We also saw the huge offshore wind farms that were introduced by the previous Danish government and I managed to leave the city with a glimmer of hope that people can really make a difference, and a rekindled fire to keep fighting the good fight.

The IPCC has been getting a hammering lately from conservative bloggers and climate deniers - but check out this excellent piece from Real Climate which gives the real facts from the spin. http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2010/02/ipcc-errors-facts-and-spin/

Ice skating anyone?

If you’re an kinesthetic learner keen on incorporating a bit of ‘direct experience’ into the next five minutes - you should go and read this in the freezer...cause yep, it’s been pretty cold here.

Winter has arrived, and apparently this particular winter has been on vacation for about 30 years. Ridiculous amounts of snow and very cold temperatures have been the norm for 6 weeks now. Whoever is responsible for naming depressions/cold fronts over here has a somewhat ironic sense of humour, naming one of them ‘Daisy’....a flower which, if I remember correctly, would make no attempt to wake from its dormant phase at -17 degrees. ‘Witch Hazels’ on the other hand like a cold snap – but I guess that doesn’t really have the same ring to it.

Winter has actually been a really beautiful sight...at least from the relatively warm view of our apartment window. The snow has been white and fluffy, refusing to turn “mutschig” - a consistency and colour similar to grey mashed potatoes, which is usually what snow looks like after a day or two in the city. Walking has been tricky, with the streets pretty much being just like an ice skating rink. Kirsten’s been working on her slapstick routine by taking a few falls in very public places, arms whorling like windmills in an attempt (unsuccessful) to take flight rather than fall. On one occasion she managed to get two words out before hitting the deck, I’ll let you guess what they were. I managed to do a 360 degree slide on my bike on the icy bicycle lane which I’d like to call ‘free riding’ but I’d be lying as there was nothing even remotely resembling control of any sort...plus my dismount was, well just embarrassing.

Jen came back to Berlin with Kirsten after Copenhagen and we had a very ‘gemutlich’ week leading up to Christmas. The Macey girls were both completely stuffed after the, ahem, biggest climate change conference in history and so there were lots of sleep ins, late breakfasts and warm drinks. We did of course get out amongst it as well, visiting Christmas markets, puppet shows (Puss in Boots auf Deutsch), seeing the Nutcracker (check out the post Ballet action shot) and singing Christmas carols on Christmas eve with Kirsten’s boss’s family.

We then went and spent New Years in Sweden with Jane, Peter, Alma and Kirra and had a ball in the snow. We got to use some really cool old wooden skis which I managed to look very uncool in as I had my first attempt at cross county skiing. Kirsten definitely won more style points than me and the locals just looked like typical cool Swedes who were born with skis already on their feet :-)

After New Year’s we did a Verwandten und freunde (family and friend) tour by train around Germany and Belgium. This was loads of fun but didn’t do anything to get rid of the ‘extra’ winter layers we’ve accumulated. Food, sitting, food, drinking, food, little stroll, sleep, food...you know how it is. Highlights included chatting all night (in German!) with Kirsten’s aunts and uncles in Recklinghausen, breakfast – extending to lunch – extending to afternoon tea at Gunter and Isolde’s, catching up with Anette and Michael in Brussels, meeting Benjamin - Karim and Sebastian’s gorgeous little boy, eating reibe kuchen and drinking Kolsch with Lars and Andrea in Koeln, home-made Maultaschen at Gigi’s, the ‘bummel’ (wander) around Schorndorf (known for the gallant woman who saved the town from the men who wanted to give it up to the French) with Jutta and Sabine, going tobogganing with Ute and Kai-Marco and then having a massive snow-ball fight which, I should say, I definitely won (sorry Kirsten but you know it’s true)!

We’ve been back in Berlin for the last three weeks and have settled into the old routine. Kirsten’s back at work at a somewhat more normal pace than before and I’m back in the classroom being a student again. We had an awesome day recently at Berlin's velodrome watching a 6 day event. The atmosphere was fantastic and full of all ages and walks of life - the german's really get into their cycle events. Check out Kirsten watching the event with a gerkin, pretzel and beer. We’re both really, really excited about the upcoming Berlinale - Berlin's film festival – it’s a huge event over here and we can’t wait to get seriously square eyes...but more about that next time.

There was unfortunately a sad event recently as Kirsten’s aunt passed away. It was of course a very sad time for Kirsten and her family, but we got to visit her a couple of times and had long chats and cups of tea and the chance to say goodbye.

We hope you’re all well wherever you are, viele Grüße from us to you,
bis nächstes Mal,

Simon and Kirsten.

The third quarter

Well that went quickly didn’t it!

The last three months began and ended with milestones. The end of August was summer holiday time, the end of November the exact opposite as the last corner on the road to Copenhagen has been taken. Although a story doesn’t have to start at the beginning (Jean-Luc Goddard) we’re gonna start there anyway.

August was a beautiful month. Robyn and Dave visited us for some summer fun in Berlin with bike riding, playing in kid’s playgrounds and beer gardens all playing a prominent role in daily activities. Kirsten and I then rode to Rostock (from the outskirts of Berlin) on a dedicated bike trail that runs from Berlin all the way to Copenhagen! The weather was perfect and every day was, in a word, awesome.


September saw the theoretical arrival of autumn, but summer persisted much to everyone’s delight and we had gorgeous weather. I left for the first 10 days to go to the UK for a bike course and it rained heavily for 8 of those days. The lake I was camping on rose rapidly and came very close to my tent....I had ducks at my tent door almost every morning which was a bit unsettling but finally the rain stopped and out came the ‘current bun’, some warm weather and many happy campers (excuse the pun). Mum came over at the end of September and we had a great two weeks sight-seeing in some of the capital cities of Europe, as well as a 75th birthday party of a long time family friend in Amsterdam which was a truly amazing event. Mum took some great photos which I'll add soon.

October was a month of visitors, and saw the arrival of the colder weather - including the first snow! Mickey came for a few days and found some great purple high heel shoes in an Op shop, I’ve heard they’re a hit at the office. We ate nice hot German food in our local warm beer hall too – and stopped frequently for coffee in small Berlinesque cafes. Paula left warm sunny France to come visit...and Berlin turned on its first Baltic breeze for a very chilly 4 days. She borrowed a few of Kirsten’s clothes to warm up...and I got confused once or twice, at least peripherally. We also ate German food in our local beer hall and had many cups of coffee in gemutlich cafes. Jane and Peter came over for Kirsten’s birthday and we had a more organic Berlin experience. Botanical gardens and arboretums were day number one which was really cool. We got a little homesick when we saw Grass Trees and Acacias in the glasshouse – but a jazz band in a Berlin bar later that night helped us to get over that!

November has been a more ‘homely’ approach, as Kirsten knuckled down to work every week day (and every week night) and most weekends. She went to Barcelona for one of the final preparatory meetings before Copenhagen...and came back pretty exhausted but still full of Special K zest. Her colleague/friend Claire moved in with us for the month and our lounge room became an extension of Climate Analytics workspace ... it was just like an extended sleepover – although the fun to work ratio was severely disproportionate. The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall happened over the month of November, and there was some really amazing stuff going on. Hard to describe the mood really, but we feel lucky to have been here for the occasion. We went to one of the first bridge openings on the 9th and heard Angela Merkel and Mickhail Gorbachev give speeches about that day so long ago (or not so long ago). Check out the giant puppets (that were moved by Cranes!!) that searched for each other through the streets of Berlin over 3 days (representing the reunion of east and west). There were also various remnants of the old wall moved to various parts of the city....and while I'm no expert in automotive engineering, I'm pretty sure this little fella is no ant when it comes to carrying heavy stuff around, and these wall segments are as heavy as they look. I guess the Traubi (famous DDR plastic 'ish' car) wasn't up to it.

December arrived and Owy and Morven brought over some Scottish cheer which was great fun. They fully embraced German culture and Owy is now fluent at asking for three tickets. Morven re-discovered her high school German too, and spoke sehr gut Deutsch mit viele Leute. We went to a local bar and I won a CD for working out the most covers of heavy songs played slowly and melodically – Owy could have won but he must have slept through Nirvana’s hey day. Just kidding Owy ;-)

...and now the serious stuff. Copenhagen is underway and Kirsten is there giving it her best as we all knew she would. The hours logged to date already resemble an international phone number, but she’s still going strong. Her passion, commitment and uncompromised ideals have made her a fully fledged climate policy nerd, and nerds are cool these days in case you’re behind the times. I’m a very proud Hausmann! Please send her some best wishes if you get the chance :- )

Have a fantastic festive season wherever you are – we miss you all.

Tschussi und bis bald, Simon and Kirsten.

Rum and Nutmeg

I got to travel for my first time to the Carribean - a place of many islands and spices. I had a meeting in Grenada because they are the Chair of AOSIS which is the Alliance of Small Island States, a coalition of vulnerable small island countries that have been negotiating long and hard to make sure their voices are heard to stop the threat of climate change. AOSIS were also largely responsible for ensuring that developed countries take on legally binding targets in the Kyoto Protocol. With so much to lose AOSIS has been preparing for the road to Copenhagen and my job is to support them through scientific and technical advice along with my colleagues.

Visiting the Carribean was amazing, as we flew over Barbados it was unbelievable to see how flat of the island is. We also toured around Grenada and saw the devastation that Hurricane Ivan caused in 2004, most of the homes were destroyed and the the impact on the forest is still noticeable. Hurricanes don't usually come to Grenada because they are so close to the equator. They are still trying to recover (although the Chinese did build the cricket stadium in time for the world cup -South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Sri Lanka all played there!)

The Prime Minister, who opened the meeting, gave a really inspiring speech about the need to get a good agreement in Copenhagen in line with the AOSIS request to stay below 1.5degrees C. Australia only just recently signed up to the 2degrees C target that the European proposed back in 1996 as part of the Major Economies Forum but this will still be too much particularly for coral reefs which will suffer a lot due to ocean acidification when the pH levels in the oceans rise due to the accumulation of CO2.

The meeting was really successful and I left the spice island with rum, nutmeg (the national spice), full of local fish and hope that we really will get an agreement in Copenhagen because there are some hardworking and inspiring negotiators who want to make a difference. All it will take is political will to get there - because the technology is already available (and I'm not talking about nuclear!)

Sweden

While Kirsten's workload has been somewhat 'horrendous' lately, we managed to have a beautiful weekend in Sweeden with friends....without the laptop or iphone! Well there was actually some use of the iphone, but it was to google the rules of jacks/knuckes so we'll let that one through to the keeper.

Sweden, as always, was wholesome and lovely...lots of home cooked meals, organic beer, organic gardening, a visit to the sea, wild mushroom gathering and smiling faces all round. We felt inspired and humbled by Jane, Peter, Alma and Kirra's garden and lifestyle....and are now planning a little path through our garden after seeing their new cobblestone path (in progress).

...and yes, we're proud to say we did play jacks/knuckles - which all you who grew up in the 80's should remember - and reminisced how this simple game was the humble competitor to Donkey Kong, Oil Panic and Octopus. It may not have stood the test of time quite so well as Nintendos have...but surely it's the reason our hand eye coordination and motor skills are so finely attuned?

In keeping with a subtle 80's theme, Peter put up some 'wicked' windsurfing sails above the new patio - note the colour combinations and spider web print - he was pretty stoked.

Kirsten is now in Bonn for two weeks and I'm knuckling down for the last two weeks of my german course before we cycle from Berlin to Rostock...but more about that next time.

A Spanish interlude

I (Simon) just had a wee trip to Spain... 'just' 20 hrs away on a few forms of public transport but well worth every painstaking and cramped second. I had a sleeper for the overnight leg of the trip, which reminded me of bed sizes in Beijing - and I'm pretty sure the average height of a German is a touch taller than the average height of a Chinese. Anyway, it was a catch up with old school buddies, and we managed to score some great waves which were not typical for summer. We first went to Bilbao and then headed to the far north western corner which is full of little nooks and crannies that are protected from a variety of winds and full of potential surf spots. It was a very solid 6 foot on one day, and after two waves and a few massive sets we decided to let the ocean calm down a bit before venturing back out. The next day was 3-4 foot and beautiful - but unfortunately Pete's board sconed him on the head...5 hrs and 5 stiches later he looks a little tougher than he used to.

The trip was everything a road trip shoule be....including a run in with the law...nothing serious, but I'll share that story in person ;-)

Berlin, Berlin

Hallo von Berlin

Hello from Berlin

We've been here for nearly 2 weeks and we've managed to settle in to our new apartment, start work in Potsdam, find the postoffice, find the local volksgarten (park) and its beer garden, start learning german (Simon that is), buy an old bicycle, find some coffee shops and the video shop, watch the new Transformers movie and then get totally shocked when they had an intermission...we'ce also cycled in the German summer rain of course.

we've got a few pictures up on the site, but this is just a short intro, until our next post...

bis bald

Simon und Kirsten