Just What Happened In Copenhagen?

What if you had a climate change conference and nobody came? Or, what if people came and were turned away at the door? That is essentially what happened at the COP 15 in Copenhagen. While that shouldn't be the only focus of the 2 week event, that in theory, was to create a new framwork for adressing serious and rapid climate change, it can not be ignored. The fact is that representatives from civil society went from having about 20,000 delegates down to just 90 in a matter of days. The message is clear that key stakeholders such as labour, environmental organizations, indigenous people, etc. are not seen as relevant to the UN and certainly not to the powerful, rich nations and big business interests who have highjacked the UNFCCC process.

While we still had access to the proceedings, it was informative and disapointing to see how countries such as Canada had come to the COP with little or no intention of leaving Copenhagen with any deal that would be fair, accountable or binding (as was being demanded by the civil society contingent that was eventually "shut out" of the proceedings). Canada's "contributions" during the Kyoto Protocol meetings clearly showed their contempt for any process that would hold them accountable or that would be of benefit to the world's "emerging economies" ( another term for the world's poorest countries and those most in danger from the effects of climate change).

The positive side was that civil society did not just accept exclusion without a response. Although there were demostrations that recieved extensive press due to police over-reaction to small pockets of protesters, much more was happening. Blue/Green meetings and activities continued in spite of the problems created by the lack of physical facilities created by lack of access to the Bella Centre (site of COP 15). Now, more than ever, our work must intensify and it must be clear to the UN that our role in the UNFCCC is as important as the governments and big business interests that have been (and would like to continue) driving the agenda of these meetings.