On day 10 of the COP17 talks, I finally realised the truth: NGOs have more fun.

After having been trapped in Durban’s ICC for nine days, I decided it was finally time to have a nosey around the expo centre, and chat to folk about who they were and what they were doing there.

And do you know what I discovered? People enjoying themselves. What next??

Everyone at the ICC is terribly serious, and by day 10 even the press have lost the skip in their step. People cluster together and have intense conservations, or march the hallways with intent, accompanied by their stern expressions. Small talk isn’t really an option unless you’re bitching about how long it takes to get coffee.

But at the expo area people approach you to chat. It may be boiling hot and humid, but smiling people sit and drink coffee, struggling to understand each other through their different accents. But trying anyway.

You stand with your back to the airconditioning unit, and people shift up to make more room! (This is a widespread past time.)

The negotiators are drafting texts that could change the way we live, although one negotiator told me yesterday that it was like arguing with 193 grammar Nazis about where a comma should be. They have an important job to do, and it shows.

But it must be said that the NGOs and exhibitors definitely look like they’re having much more fun.