Day two

At 6:00 a.m. on December 17, Premier Wen went to breakfast. He was briefed at the breakfast table. As the negotiations in Copenhagen involved 192 countries, the circumstances were changing every minute.

At 8:30 a.m., Premier Wen walked into the meeting room, brimming with energy and ready for a whole day of intense meetings. The first leader he met was Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of the host country Denmark. At the outset, Premier Wen commended Denmark for its hard work in the run-up to the conference and pledged China's full support to the host in bringing about a successful outcome. The Danish prime minister was somewhat relieved to hear these words. He talked about the deep rift among parties and the absence of a text that could serve as a basis for consultations. He was visibly worried about the negotiation process.

Premier Wen expressed full understanding of the pressure facing the host. He attributed various divisions to four focal issues, namely, a basic text, financial support, the long-term target and MRV (measureable, reportable and verifiable). He suggested that pragmatic efforts be made in accordance with the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" to build on the two draft texts presented by the chairs of the two Ad hoc Working Groups, lock up the consensus already achieved and leave the divisive elements to future deliberations. He said this might be the only viable way, and a resolution thus reached could represent an outcome of the conference.

Prime Minister Rasmussen thanked Premier Wen for his constructive proposal. He said if all other leaders could work as vigorously as the Chinese premier, the conference would achieve success.

Premier Wen then met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Ban was also gravely concerned about the stalled process and regarded a conference without any gains as unacceptable. Premier Wen pointed out that it was unrealistic for the nearly 200 countries to patch up their wide differences in less than two days. The Chinese people and people across the globe all looked forward to a successful conference. The most important thing at the moment was to build consensus quickly. The conference could opt for a political document that reflected the consensus of all parties aimed at affirming the political will, recognizing the existing achievements and sending a message of confidence and hope to the world.

Premier Wen stressed that the drafting process and consultations must be open and transparent. The opinions of all parties must be duly solicited and the concerns of the developing countries in particular must be taken seriously. He expressed the hope that the United Nations would play an important role in this process. Ban nodded, absorbed in thought.

At 11:00 a.m., Premier Wen headed to the hotel where Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was staying. President Lula had proposed a working breakfast among the leaders of BASIC countries, but that was cancelled due to technical difficulties with the Indian and South African leaders. When Premier Wen learned this, he asked for a bilateral meeting with President Lula. The two old friends shook hands, hugged each other and started a cordial conversation. They confirmed the broad common understanding between the two countries on climate change, and pledged to stand together with other developing countries to uphold shared interests while stepping up consultation and coordination with all relevant parties in order to play a positive role.

At noon, Premier Wen rushed back to the Radisson Hotel for a group meeting with President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives and Prime Minister Tillman Thomas of Grenada representing small island developing states, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia representing Africa, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh representing the least-developed countries (LDCs), and the Sudanese presidential assistant Nafie Ali Nafie representing the Group of 77.

As a developing country, China covered a historical journey similar to those of African countries, small island states and LDCs. Consequently, China and these countries felt close to each other and shared the same yearning for justice and fairness. The leaders sat in a circle and had a heart-to-heart talk.

Financial support was the top concern to these countries. A delegate from a major power had said earlier that money would not be given to China. In response to this remark, Premier Wen said that China had been calling on the developed countries to make good on their financial pledges, but China would never compete with other developing countries for even a single cent of financial support. China would continue to provide assistance to LDCs both bilaterally and within the framework of the South-South cooperation, including material and capacity-building support for combating climate change.

Premier Wen had deep sympathies for small island states over their vulnerable ecosystems and fully understood their special requests for curbing global temperature rise. He explained in great detail China's mitigation efforts and what China expected from the Copenhagen negotiations. As a demonstration of sincerity, Premier Wen expressed China's readiness to accommodate the concerns of the small island states on limiting global temperature rise to no more than 2 degrees Celsius by 2050. Premier Wen also reiterated China's commitment to uphold the rights and interests of the whole developing world at the conference.

Premier Wen then invited the leaders to lunch, where they continued discussion. Their meeting, which lasted over two hours, was the longest Premier Wen had in Copenhagen. The other leaders found Premier Wen's remarks fair and reasonable. They recognized the tremendous efforts China had made to tackle climate change and dismissed the accusations made by the developed countries as misplaced. They held that China, like other developing countries, should not have its development space compromised in the course of addressing climate change. And they called on developing countries to strengthen consultations and solidarity.