Nusa Dua, Bali - In the interests of the planet, delegates at a climate summit in balmy Bali have cast aside their collars and ties and donned airy clothing, prompting an explosion of batik shirts.
Indonesia`s traditional wax-and-dye attire can be spied on every corner at the key UN meeting in Bali, a sultry holiday island near the equator where most visitors wear little more than a bikini for long days on the beach.
"I bought a batik shirt yesterday after they told us it`s not an obligation to be in suits because it`s very hot," said Bougonou Kouassivi Djeri-Alassani, a delegate from Togo.
"There`s not enough air con," he complained to AFP.
Summit hosts, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), asked delegates to dress down so that air conditioning does not have to be cranked up in the conference centre, emitting harmful greenhouse gases.
"I think even the timid ones will be encouraged to see others in flowery shirts," said UNFCCC conference coordinator Salwa Dallalah, adding that women were better at pulling off the look.
But that has not stopped the men from trying to outdo each other with a kaleidoscope of batik shirts, which are common at formal events in Indonesia and are created by applying wax to cloth then dipping it in dye.
UNFCCC executive secretary Yvo de Boer has been donning increasingly elaborate silk batik shirts since the conference opened Monday, and on Wednesday sported a shiny black number with gold and yellow swirls.
"Our executive secretary has set the precedent for that and the presidents of the (conference) are competing on shirts," laughed Dallalah.
Splashes of colours may provide a welcome distraction for some from the dry language in the meetings, where delegates from 188 nations are trying to work out a plan to deal with climate change when the current phase of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
Media coordinator Axel Wustenhagen -- who was basking in compliments for his indigo blue batik number -- said stuffy ministers better beware when they arrive next week: de Boer has threatened to snip off any ties he spots in the conference halls
Source: afp.google.com (8 Desember 2007)
