Wikileaks Copenhagen Climate Cables Rich In Anger, Pessimism

[hatrack]

A dispatch from Brussels, Belgium said incoming European Council President Herman Van Rompuy (essentially the head of the European Union) was "angry that Europe was elbowed out of discussions in Copenhagen and in a pessimistic mood about the successor talks in Mexico." Van Rompuy's pessimism is now being put to the test, as two weeks of negotiations in Mexico wrap up -- without any breakthrough evident.

Van Rompuy met the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, Howard Gutman, just before Christmas 2009, and described the Copenhagen conference as "a disaster in which Europe was excluded and mistreated." The ambassador, who knew Van Rompuy well, wrote that "he was as animated and as frustrated as I have seen him. He thought the only saving grace was that he was not there. Van Rompuy said, 'Had I been there, my Presidency would have been over before it began.' "

EDIT

The Brazilian Environment Minister, Carlos Minc, went further. According to the cable, "He criticized President Obama, saying the people of the planet expected more of a Nobel prize winner. Minc then urged Obama in the upcoming negotiations "to do something or return the Nobel prize." But Minc also criticized other governments, including Cuba and Venezuela, for an obstructive approach. "He added that "there were too many people staring at their navels, and also a climate of distrust that was very bad," according to the cable.

The Netherlands, which has some of the most ambitious environmental targets in the world, described the Copenhagen meeting as a "significant accomplishment." But a diplomatic cable from the Hague quotes a senior Dutch official as saying he "was taken aback by the sight of European leaders (e.g., PM Brown and Chancellor Merkel) hovering around the VIP room sofas where the Chinese, Indian, South African, and Brazilian representatives were consulting," trying to get an audience with them.

EDIT

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/12/10/wikileaks.climate.change/

[villager]

1. "the people of the planet expected more of a Nobel prize winner."

Sadly telling line, that.