Pic from Cop14
(Qute from the guardian article, link at the end of the post.)
Even when things were going well in the rollercoaster UN climate talks – which was not very often – Yvo de Boer looked glum. Young observers of the final days in the Bali or Copenhagen conferences felt compelled to give him a hug, ministers knew to give him a wide berth, and other diplomats recognised that his job of twisting the arms of negotiators and bashing politicians’ heads together to reach agreement was next to impossible.
He did not have an easy job. But he tried hard and tried well.
Maybe it seems strange to some of you that I am a big fan of Yvo de Boer. He is to a large extent a “behind the scenes person” and many of you probably hadn’t heard about him until you came to my lecture or read my blog. But I am. A fan, that is. He is emotional, he is outspoken and frank, he is sensible and open and I think he has brought very much good to the climate change issue as a whole. Ambitious, just and really very nice. Of course, as with everything else, there are two sides to every story. But today, when the news reach us that he is leaving UNFCCC I choose to focus on the good things and how valuable it has been to have a person such as Yvo onboard during the climate change negotiations and through the whole process really.
Personally, like the heading of this post tells you, I am sad to see him go. He has a great knowledge of the process, he puts pressure on but is diplomatic at the same time and I just sympathise with him in most things… I am always impressed by politicians and people working within that type of environment who dares to show themselves and share thoughts and feelings.
So, today when I actually have a lot to be happy about (snow, seing good friends at the weekend, fun at work and much more) I am a little bit low at the same time. A lot because we dont know who will take over. And it is of key importance, Yvo has been so prominent in the negotiations, that we get someone “good” here. It is important now to strengthen the negotiations and not loose momentum even though in more way than one it looks a bit like it is going in the other direction at the moment.
But it is a long way to go until we get to Mexico. Ill keep you posted 
Have a nice weekend!
Read more about Yvo here and here.
