In some ways, the moment was Shakespearean, but without much drama: As for the delegates to the United Nations' climate-change conference that ended this past Saturday in Poznan, Poland, it could be said that they came, they talked and they departed. And that's about it.
Except that their gathering was marked by some very powerful refutations of the king.
Four more rounds of formal negotiations are scheduled before the Dec 7-18 talks in Copenhagen. These are June 1-12 in Bonn, Germany; Aug 10-14 in Bonn; Sept 28 to Oct 9 in Bangkok; and Nov 2-6, at a venue yet to be decided.
In addition, heads of state and government will gather in September at a U.N. climate change summit in New York and President Obama will host a major economies forum on the sidelines of the G8 in Italy in July. Two other meetings convened by the United States will take place, one probably 26-27 May in Paris and another in June.
