International negotiations on climate change have encountered countless red lights on the road to Copenhagen, but Trinidad and Tobago last week erected a whole traffic signal to direct discussions.

At a meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government in Port of Spain, a contraption resembling a traffic signal is believed to have been planted in the centre of the room to ensure speakers did not go beyond their stipulated three-four minutes.

They were expected to begin winding up when the light turned amber, and stop altogether when it turned red.

A few who jumped the light were apparently interrupted by host Prime Minister Patrick Manning, an embarrassment that is understood to have led to several leaders choosing not to speak at all.

These unusual rules of engagement were themselves result of some unusual practices followed by Trinidad and Tobago earlier.

Port of Spain departed from the normal practice of keeping the draft communiqué ready at the foreign ministers’ meeting, to be passed on for endorsement by the heads of government. Trinidad and Tobago Foreign Minister Paula Gopee refused to part with the communiqué, pleading she had not received permission from Prime Minister Manning to disclose the contents.

So, the draft was tabled directly before the heads of government when they met. And inevitably, there were doubts, questions and objections. The heads of government meeting rapidly turned into a negotiating forum.

Manning then asked all leaders to make their interventions by turn. And to control how long they could speak, he employed the ‘traffic light’.

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