Getting down to business

The main plenary hall

Friends of the Earth campaigners peek from behind the Climate Mosaic

Keir, Joanna, Donald & Jan

The Climate Mosaic wall has generated lots of interest. We've made onto Page 1 of one of the Montreal dailies, as well as Reuters.

We hope the thousands of you who painted a tile will be pleased to see your message on display in front of the conference centre.

After the excitement of launching our Climate Mosaic, Joanna has managed to have a quieter day. Katie meanwhile has been shuttling from meeting to meeting.

Topics under discussions have included 'carbon capture and storage' (how carbon can be stored rather than released into the atmosphere) and the impacts of climate change on development.

Targets versus technology?

Catherine Pearce - Friends of the Earth's International Climate Coordinator - took part in a press conference this morning.

She stressed that maintaining tough emission reduction targets is not incompatible with sharing technologies. Indeed the two are complementary.

It's not 'either/or' which is what Tony Blair seems to be indicating.

Saving the forests

Another issue which is generating a lot of interest is deforestation. Cutting down vast swathes of virgin forest around the world contributes to climate change as carbon dioxide is released.

Papua New Guinea has put forward a challenging proposal. They suggest taking on a target to cut back on their rate of deforestation. In return for the financial loses they would incur for not exploiting their natural resources, they would want compensation.

This proposal has been backed by the Europeans and Chile amongst others. Inevitably though it has been blocked by the US and Australia.

Let battle commence

Tonight the stage was set for the start of one of the hottest and most important topics of the conference - what will happen after this phase of the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012.

How many people can you fit in one room?
The main plenary hall

Positive comments urging action came from most delegates. However the discussions will continue until the 11th hour, so we'll keep you informed on how this issue progresses.