Deal Done

Unbelievably, an agreement has been reached in Cancun building on the Copenhagen Accord and reviving the Kyoto Protocol for the moment.  There seems to be a consensus that this is not a perfect agreement but it is more than people thought would happen.  If will not by itself solve anything but it kicks the can down the road to Durban and next years meeting and offers some hope that the international community can effectively grapple with climate change. 

Winners: Mexico and multilateralism. 

• With few expectation, massive amounts of distrust among the parties and NGO's, and intransigent parties, the Mexican delegation led by Patricia Espinosa was able to work around the clock for two days straight at the end of the two week conference to forge a consensus agreement.  
• Faith in the process of UN negotiations, which was at a serious low two weeks ago, has now been restored.  Parties from the developing nations to the U.S., China and India were able to compromise and collaborate on the final agreement. 

Losers: I'll save this for a time when I am more well-rested....