Tough summits

The recent round of summits – the G-20 summit in Los Cabos in Mexico and the Earth Summit at Rio – was a tough experience for most leaders. The beleaguered German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, had a particularly difficult time, fending off pleas that she go easier on the austerity measures she was demanding for the struggling Greek economy. In response to one forcefully-expressed demand that she change her stance, she made a revealing statement about her helplessness in the face of German domestic opinion on the subject: “If I change my stance,” she said, “I’ll no longer be the leader.” Unsurprisingly, she missed the Earth Summit to return to Berlin to prepare for the ongoing European leaders’ meeting.

Other leaders had less momentous problems. Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, India’s principal negotiator at the Earth Summit, spent a lot of time looking for vegetarian food at Rio, but could not find anything she considered palatable. On being reminded that there was lots of vegetarian pizza and pasta available, she replied, instantly: “The last thing I want on my table are pizza and pasta.”