After many were left in frustration over COP15s Copenhagen Accord, the Mexican government managed to perfection to clear the path of negotiations and get rid of the most problematic discussions. Although today’s outcome is almost the same, internationally COP15 remains the failure and COP16 a success.
Reality is that the international community have once again to deal with all the difficult discussions put aside in Cancun. The faster it is done, the easier it will be to address the problems we are facing. For this to happen, the forthcoming UN climate change conference in Durban needs engagement from the Peoples'.
Danish grassroots organizations received US$1.5 million from the Danish government to create a Peoples’ Summit during COP15. Klimaforum09, as it was called, not only added to the seriousness of the climate debate, but also contributed as a logistic partner to the highly controlled COP15.
The Peoples’ Summit took place in the city centre. All 300 activities were free and 50,000 people walked through the open doors without any kind of restrictions. The diversity of narratives was overwhelming and amazed widely, but the simple fact that there existed a space where all people were listened to became the most important factor. If it had not been for the Peoples’ Summit, COP15 had been a total disaster.
Compared to Copenhagen the unification of civil society organisations in Cancun was a different experience. NGOs and grassroots gathered not in one major space, but in four different locations. Unfortunately they were divided with no adequate infrastructure to sustain any serious and forward looking collaboration. Cancun really suffered from the fact that there was no Peoples’ Summit. There are two main reasons why:
Generally speaking the UN as an organisation lacks openness. Knowing that the UN was originally set up for the Peoples’ it is quite difficult to swallow today’s reality, where transnational companies in general have far better access to negotiations, than the everyday climate change affected person. Ideally the UN should engage fully in the creation of a Peoples' Summit and insist that the host country supports an open space that follows and soberly explains the process as it goes along.
Secondly the connections and cooperation that can be established between civil society organisations during a Peoples' Summit are of the uttermost importance. Climate change is based on hard science which then has a range of social science implications. Therefore it is necessary for both environment and social organisations to work together and join forces. If they manage to gather their strengths, there can be no doubt that it will be of great value to society as a whole.
The World’s strongest democracies also have a long tradition of an independent and collaborating civil society. When the World unites, in order to solve a global crisis, it should be done democratically and not under strong influence of businesses as today.
Solutions to the climate crisis need the involvement of every person on the planet. Therefore Durban needs a Peoples’ Summit that unites all concerned organisations. The UN process should be communicated to as wide an audience as possible. The fate of the planet as we know it is at stake, yet solutions to climate change already exist. Every person should know that they can do something to change the present destructive path.
Let us hope that people and the planet will be placed over the influence of companies in Durban’s COP17!
Written by HansHenrik Samuelsen.
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