There are consequences beyond this particular case, according to Maite Hoyos, an immigration attorney in Miami.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The COP President at Durban is a woman, Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane from South Africa and the Executive Secretary of the Convention is also a woman, Ms Christiana Figueres.

CNN: Why women are world's best climate change defense

He first received a briefing by Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, on the status of the negotiations, and then met with Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, President of the Conference of the Parties and South African Minister for International Relations and Cooperation.

UN: Secretary-General