Better late than never
I finally gained access to the blog. Speaking of access: after having walked from Ørestad station to the Bella Center yesterday, I was one of the many NGO’s who were denied access to the Center and the proceedings. I was very much looking forward to finally being able to monitor proceedings and network with our friends from other UNA’s as well as other organisations. It was therefore greatly disappointing to be left out in the cold.
There has, as Morten Thulstrup also writes, been obvious logistical problems and poor planning in terms of accrediting far more people than space in the Bella Center warranted. And the level of interest and presence, has no doubt surprised the organisers.
However, one is also left with the impression that the atmosphere in general at this COP has been rather more volatile and nervous, also taking into account events taking place outside the Bella Center. The role of the NGOs/IGOs at this COP, compared to previous meetings and summits, has been more observatory rather that participatory, due to seemingly fewer direct lines to the negotiating channels, and possibly because of the hightened urgency of reaching a deal at COP15 and the hightened focus on this particualr COP. In this climate (punt intended…), negotiators, govenments and possibly the UN might fear that NGO/IGO inclusion could “cloud” issues and prolong negotiations.
Whatever the reasons, I will join other voices on this blog, in hoping that some lessons, for future meetings and summits, will have been learnt from the Copenhagen experience, and if not that the debate and insistence on participation will be kept alive.
