Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice

This afternoon I attended the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice which was one of the formal meeting of the UN. It was very exciting to see all of the representatives from each country there in attendance but found the formality of the meeting not so much. These meetings are really just the culmination of all the bargaining and negotiations that occur behind the scenes. The chair would introduce the agenda items that had been written in smaller negotiation groups beforehand and unless someone at the last minute chose to speak out against a bill (which never happened at this time) she would simply pass it with a simple tap of the gavel. I found it quite disappointing how much of this isn't visible to the public but also shows how much of the work really is driven by groups of countries arguing on similar platforms trying to work out the issues.

While upfront it didn't seem too monumental it was a big accomplishment because they all approved REDD (reduced emissions through deforestation and forest degradation) and the Nairobi work program. Another thing I found interesting is everybody speaking simply read off a sheet because of all the formalities and even those trying to give slightly impassioned speeches. At the end they allow NGOs to have the floor and some of them expressed their concerns that REDD takes away rights from indigenous forest people and marginalized people which is an important concern. This meeting also forwarded CCS technologies within a CDM framework but I haven't gotten a hold of the actual text to see everything that includes. Overall I found it very informative to see how the UN works but you don't really see too much happening.