Sunset Saturday XXXXIV

I finished the year the same way I started it: with a day on the slopes. Except this time there was no sunshine, but snow, snow, snow.
Happy New Year!

Jahresendurlaub

We're off to the mountains today for some skiing, and to celebrate New Year's Eve!
Rutschts guad and see you in 2012!

Sunset Saturday XXXXIII

A winter sunset near my parents' house in Bavaria. The sun is gone as early as 4pm at this time of the year, making the days quite short, and it is way too warm for snow at the moment, which makes it even darker during the long nights. At least we got to see some blue sky and sunrays today!

Christmas time

Christmas traditionally is a family holiday, and so we left Gaborone to spend some time with my family in Bavaria, and to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. It was great to catch up with everyone, who has travelled from various parts of the world to our hometown, and to eat lots of homemade, delicious food...
Hope everyone had a peaceful Christmas!

Sunset Saturday XXXXII

The sky is on fire. A burning, red evening sky over Gaborone. These days, the light over here is just incredible. The rainy season has started for good and different layers of clouds break the sunrays in various colors, making it most spectacular during dusk, like this flaming red, orange and pink.

Photo taken by Björn and the iphone

the final nights

After an informal dinner with lots of last-minute strategizing, I returned to the ICC on Friday on what was supposed to be the last day of negotiations. Througout the morning, we camped out in front of the meeting room where Ministers from major countries tried to come up with a deal.

It was a day spent waiting, with rumours flying up and down the corridors, interrupted by the occupy COP17 that happened in the afternoon.
I was watching from the gallery when it started and the amount of cameras present was just incredible.
After about two hours, the group of protesters were removed, leaving us with more hours waiting, trying to find out what's happening in the Indaba.
The plenaries were short and without much news, indicating how difficult the negotiations were at this stage.
Around midnight the news were that the stock-taking plenary would not happen until the next morning, so I went back to the hotel eventually after saying goodbye to the amazing Germanwatch team, and leaving for the airport in the morning.
Turns out, I didn't miss out on the news while traveling, but was able to follow the final night via twitter and the livestream, before finally, finally, a decision was made.
I guess this is as close as you can get to political power play and international climate diplomacy in the 21st century...

Sunset Saturday XXXXI

Here's a picture of the sun setting over that bridge at the ICC in Durban. COP17 didn't end on Friday night as discussions were still ongoing, and I left way after sunset on what was supposed to be the last evening. In the end, a solution was agreed upon in the early hours of Sunday morning, making this the longest COP ever. For full coverage, see here (in German) and here.
(Apologies for the late post, but I had to fix my laptop that had died somewhere on the way in Durban.)

a week in Durban

This past week has been quite hectic and I don't know how many times I have walked over that dreaded bridge to get into the COP17. Below are a few pictures of where I am spending my days.

1, inside the plenary
2, the bridge
3, SADC exhibition booth
4, ICC cafeteria
5, in front of the Africa Pavilion

Sunset Saturday XXXX

I am still in Durban and running around the ICC, climbing over the bridge, organizing things, attending meetings, and hoping for some successful outcome of the COP17. In all this craziness, I hardly know what the weather is like during the day, and I certainly didn't have time to take any scenic pictures (yet). So here's a photo of the sun setting behind the high-rise buildings in Valparaiso, taken during my trip last year. Enjoy your weekend und den 2. Advent!