The Netherlands is a small country with a big role to play at the UN climate change conference, according to junior minister Joop Atsma in an interview with public broadcaster NOS.

The minister feels that the presence of a thirty strong Dutch delegation in the luxurious Moon Palace resort in Cancún, scene of the negotiations, is therefore perfectly justified, writes climate correspondent Bram Schilham.
Atsma says UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon asked him personally to help soften up the Chinese and American delegations. ‘The Netherlands has always had a part to play when it comes to helping other countries. You can tell. People listen to us,’ the CDA junior minister claims.
Majestic
So far China, Japan and the United States, who are still embroiled in a long drawn out negotiating process, have not shown many signs of listening. But Atsma is an optimist. ‘It’s not Friday night yet. Everybody says that the negotiations are going better than expected.’
It’s Atsma’s first climate conference as a junior environment minister, an experience he has qualified as overwhelming and even majestic. ‘There is enormous enthusiasm. Everybody is doing their utmost to make this work.’
He understands that some people question the size of the conference. ‘I have to admit that I sometimes wonder why some countries come here with a delegation of over a hundred people’, the junior minister says. ‘But for a short while this luxurious resort is the world’s stage. If you think about that for a while it isn’t so strange that thousands have flocked here.’
Practical
The Dutch politician addressed the conference on Wednesday evening, sandwiched in between the environment ministers of Eritrea and Algeria. All delegation leaders get to make a speech, usually no longer than a few minutes.
In his speech, Atsma asked for a practical approach to the problem of climate change. ‘It is much better to take small, feasible steps than a big but unrealistic leap.’

Help
Earlier the same day the junior minister demonstrated just such a small step by signing an agreement with his Columbian counterpart. The Netherlands is going to help the country to measure its CO2 emissions and has earmarked € 33.000 for the purpose.
This type of help will enable Columbia to initiate a CO2 reduction programme. ‘It’s small but it’s meaningful’, says Atsma.

This is an unofficial translation