Acronyms become a natural part of your conversation after a couple of days at the COP climate talks. One that's heard in every second sentence is NDCs - Nationally Determined Contributions - the offers to cut emissions that countries made in Paris in 2015, and that need to be being stepped up soon.
But there's also an important state contribution that can't be quantified in the same way, but is crucial to progress of the talks - you might call it the national political contributions, NPCs.
There was one surprise, effective NPC at the start of this COP from an unlikely source, Syria. On day one of the talks, it delivered a small fillip to the conference, and a big symbolic blow to President Trump, by signing the Paris climate agreement.
No one is expecting this war-wracked country to make a splash in policy talks in Bonn, but it meant that every state in the world has now signed the treaty, and the US is the only one with the announced intention of withdrawing. That makes President Trump look even more isolated, as the US People's Delegation here was happy to celebrate.
There's a feeling sometimes that nations have "natural" places at COP that reflect their political and economic positions in the world - as key polluters or vulnerable victims - that are inevitable and unchangeable. But even a short look at history shows that isn't the case: politics does really matter, for the future of Paris Agreement, and the planet.
Two years ago in Paris, the US was in a far different position, with President Obama joining Francoise Hollande in a joyous celebration of the unexpected agreement to set an ambition to restrict warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, better than had been expected.
China's taken a new lead position. That happened, almost visibly at the Marrakesh talks in 2016, after the shock election of Trump. Every word, even the most banal, from a Chinese delegate, was listened to with unusual attention, and here in Bonn their leadership is regarded as crucial.
We were told at an NGO conference that there'd been an important development at the just-concluded Party Congress in Beijing. An official paper there said that China should be a "leader" in global climate diplomacy. It was the first time that word had been used in this important context - and would not have been used casually.
The other nation very much under the spotlight here is Fiji, as the first small island nation to chair a COP. It must have been an enormous challenge, but the Fijians clearly have a powerful figure in their chief negotiator, Nazhat Shameen Khan, and importantly she looks to have a good rapport with the UNFCC executive secretary Patricia Espinosa.
But it is clearly going to be a big challenge for a small state to stand up to the superpowers and pull them into line - it is going to have to stay true to its values and the needs of those it represents under tremendous pressure in the coming days. As Godwin Ojo from Nigeria's Environmental Rights Action said: "Fiji must be Fiji."
The European Union remains a significant, if somewhat diminished force, with its Nordic members providing considerable leadership by example in their economies and practices. And it is still taking significant formal steps, like the alliance with California announced at the start of COP.
But many of its member states aren't helping its position.
Germany collected some early points with an announcement of a new pledge of 50 million euros for the Adaptation Fund and the same amount for the Least Developed Countries Fund. As Jan Kowalzig, Oxfam Germany, noted, it was good that the announcement made before the high-level end of COP, when such steps usually unveiled by senior politicians to much fanfare.
However, as Mr Kowalzig and many others said, that didn't make up for the fact that Germany's emissions haven't gone down for the past eight years, with the likelihood being that it will miss its domestic 2020 target of 40% against 1990 levels. It could be as bad as 32%. The stalling of the energy transition project is chiefly to blame, as in continuing use of coal.
France also managed to secure the "Fossil of the Day" award on day three of the talks, for its postponement of a target to drop nuclear power use and replace it with renewables. Emmanuel Macron talked the talk on climate change during his election campaign, but there's been little sign of commitment since.
Then we get to Britain. Still part of the EU. And with a fairly large and prominent pavilion here. But in three and a half days of discussion about the talks here, I've not heard the British "contribution" mentioned once.
And no wonder. To say our government is currently clearly distracted by other matters, like its chances of survival, is only a statement of the obvious. But it is clear that the direction it has given is leaving it an irrelevant laggard here, not a leader.
The pavilion, astonishingly, is advertising coal bed methane. Its chief branding is for the trade department, and its only "green" feature a fun but gimmicky "generate electricity with your steps" machine.
The Brexiteers told us that leaving the EU would put us into a new position of global leadership. That's certainly not the case here in Bonn.
Natalie Bennett is in Bonn with the Green Economics Institute.