At Climate Meet, "Saudi Arabia" Sign Smashed, Dumped In Toilet, After Vote Against Island Study

[hatrack]

U.N. climate negotiators agreed to an investigation on Friday after protesters smashed a sign emblazoned "Saudi Arabia" and dropped it in toilet after Riyadh blocked a study of deeper cuts in greenhouse gases.

Many countries condemned the protest, after Saudi Arabia blocked a request by small island states at the May 31-June 11 talks for a study of tougher cuts in greenhouse gases to help slow a rise in world sea levels.

Mexico's delegate Luis Alfonso de Alba, whose country will host the main climate talks in late 2010, said he was initiating an investigation by the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat.

Pieces of the smashed Saudi Arabia sign -- about 30 cm and placed on a table to identify the delegation during negotiations -- were dropped in a toilet and then photographed, delegates said. The pictures were then put up on some walls. "This is a serious incident. We should fully support that the secretariat should carry out an investigation and the result should be informed to the parties," Chinese delegate Su Wei said.

EDIT

http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/58423

Ed. - No, not really all that serious.