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...