Paris Climate Negotiations Reach Sleepless Zombie Stage

International climate conferences are marathons punctuated by naps. You can tell the final hours of the Paris climate conference are near based on the number of people crashing on couches, chairs, and sleeping bags late into the night.

Consider a photo from the start of the conference:

Then on Monday:

And Thursday:

Delegations made other arrangements:

Or they refuse couches and sleeping bags in general, according to this unconfirmed report:

This last-minute nature of the talks is perfectly normal, if not healthy for participants. Despite France’s best efforts to deliver a deal on time, Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister and chair of the talks, announced that a new draft agreement would not be ready until Saturday morning. Some reporters have put money down on the conference ending as late as Monday.