SYNOPSIS

GOLDEN AGE OF DISAGREEMENT

It’s the 1990s and Don Pearlman, an oil lobbyist and lawyer is approached by some potential clients… something’s brewing at the UN, a big ‘hoo ha’ about climate.

NERDS ARGUING ABOUT COMPUTER MODELS?

Don reluctantly travels to a gathering of climate scientists. He meets Argentinian diplomat Raul Estrada. Another lawyer, also trying to work out what the hell is going on. A potential ally?

To Don, this climate stuff is just nerds arguing about computer models. But it has piqued Raul’s interest. Could this be the start of a friendship? Or rivalry?

COUNTRIES WHO ARE AT WAR ARE AGREEING. ABOUT THE WEATHER.

It takes a bombshell to really grab Don: tiny island state Kiribati. They refuse to drown in silence and form a new UN negotiating bloc: The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

Don rants to his wife, Shirley – something is changing and it represents a fundamental threat to America, the nation that adopted his immigrant parents. Don decides there is something bigger at stake and commits to the project.

ALL THAT JAZZ…

Don begins to have some fun now, launching an NGO to gain access to negotiations and demonstrating how influencing is really done: some delay here; some double diplomacy there; a quick word when your client gets ahead of themselves. And after five rounds of talks nothing is achieved. Don is winning.

THE ZONE OF AGREEMENT

Rio de Janeiro. The Earth Summit. It’s not Conference, it’s carnival...

Don and Estrada play a game – what will we learn about Don’s motivations? And can Estrada establish a Zone of Agreement between the two? We learn that Estrada is set to become chair of the talks.

IS THE SCIENCE CLEAR?

At the first Conference of the Parties (COP 1) in Berlin a major scientific development results in the confirmation of a human influence on climate change. The science is clear. Don is dragged out into the sun, the focus of a double page spread in Der Spiegel. To add insult to injury, Estrada bans him from the Conference floor, castrating him ahead of future COPs where a protocol (legally binding agreement on targets and timetables for emissions reductions) will be negotiated.

KYOTO

COP 3, Kyoto, Japan. December 1997. Things get off to a bad start for the USA, whose suggestions are rejected by the developing world. Things are going well for Don so he takes Shirley to the Kiyomizu Temple but while he’s distracted on the phone she meets an observer, who is not all he first seems. Meanwhile, a despairing Estrada seems to be losing his grip on the first UN negotiations he’s controlled.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Tension mounts as the countdown to the end of Conference begins. Shirley is getting increasingly worried... and something is definitely not right in their hotel room… Don and Shirley try to make sense of what’s going on. The realisation dawns on Don – this is the golden age of disagreement. It started here. And is he culpable?

TIME TO DANCE

Don returns to a conference centre that should have been empty hours ago. What’s going on? A frenzy of negotiation is taking place – The USA and UK are in a dance over percentage points, UK Deputy PM John Prescott has reduced the Japanese premier to tears and the EU is struggling to find the target they need. Saudi Arabia is pushing for compensation for the impact of any emissions cuts and the G77 (group of developing nations) is about to fall apart.

CHAOS

Delegates have been awake for more than 50 hours, the translators have walked out and the Japanese President has resigned and is running for a train to Tokyo. China and America are in deadlock, both threatening to walk.

Don is losing the plot and Raul is losing hope. A face off between Don and Estrada gives Raul the chutzpah he needs to make a decision – he will drive this Protocol through… whatever it takes.

KAMIKAZEE MISSION

Don watches in horror as Estrada embarks on a kamikaze mission, as article after article is passed and a fever of agreement sweeps the conference floor. Until…in a final miraculous moment, Estrada recommends the Kyoto Protocol for adoption. By unanimity.

Don puts his head in his hands and the world turns black.