Opening plenary

I've just visited the opening plenary and I would like to share some initial reflections:
Firstly, it is really weird to sit at a meeting were the countries of the world are gathered. Secondly, the topic that is discussed is nonetheless than how to avoid the potential disastrous effects of global warming. Suddenly it all becomes real. I had the same feeling when I visited China and saw the tremendous urbanization with my own eyes. Maybe that is something human, that we cannot really realize until we experience things. What I witnessed was when the small island states, in a desperate voice, called for immediate action since their countries are disappearing and people are dying in front of their eyes. Other groups and individual countries made new promises of targets that will have to be analyzed for impact and credibility. But they all communicated one shared thing. The sense of urgency but also hope. We have a good chance now and as the representative for the LDC (the Least Developed Countries) from Lesotho said: We will work day and night these two weeks in order to seal an ambitious deal.
Now I'm off to a seminar on renewable energy.
Stay tuned.
Andreas