In the countdown to the much-awaited and carefully-prepared for climate summit to be held in Copenhagen towards the end of 2009, ‘the United Nations is planning a form of diplomatic shock therapy for world leaders this week in the hope of injecting badly needed urgency into negotiations for a climate change treaty that, it is now widely acknowledged, are dangerously adrift.’

This preliminary round of discussions is meant to ‘force heads of rich states to listen to those of third world in hope of kickstarting radical action. According to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, unless world leaders are finally converted into radical advocates against climate change, ‘it will be very hard to reach a credible and enforceable agreement to avoid the most devastating consequences of climate change.’

According to one diplomat, “We need these leaders to go outside their usual comfort zones. Our sense is that leaders have got a little too cosy and comfortable. They really have to hear from countries that are vulnerable and suffering.”

The planned pared-down summit in New York will have the attending heads of state ‘stripped of their entourages,’ with only have one aide for each that will most likely be the country’s environment minister. Leaders will be paired off to chair discussion groups such as Britain will be with Guyana, Tuvalu with the Netherlands, and Mongolia with the European commission. The leaders will have lunch with environmental activists and chief executives of corporations who have been pressing their governments for action. For dinner, ‘the leaders of the biggest polluting countries will dine with the leaders of Bangladesh, Kiribati and Costa Rica – which are among the primary victims of climate change.’

Via guardian.co.uk