NGO fury directed at COP15 organisers
NGOs write an open letter to the climate summit president and UN climate boss Yvo de Boer
by Daniel Nielsen
The UN is denying access to thousands of registered COP15 participants because of problems with capacity and the accreditation process at the conference venue, the Bella Center.
More than 45,000 people have sought access to the venue, which has a capacity of 15,000, resulting in vast queues and much frustration outside the venue all week.
NGOs have now been ordered to give up 35 percent of their access passes. And access has been further restricted with no more than 1000 NGO representatives allowed in today and just 90 tomorrow, the final day of the conference.
This has prompted a collective of 50 NGOs to write an open letter to UNFCCC executive secretary Yvo de Boer and COP15 president Lars Løkke Rasmussen (formerly Connie Hedegaard).
“It is unacceptable that civil society observers should be limited in this forum, and we hope that the UNFCCC Secretariat will recognise and reverse this undemocratic action,” says the letter, which is available on ActionAid’s website.
“The negotiations under the UNFCCC/ Kyoto Protocol framework have a huge and increasing impact on the lives of ordinary people all over the world. Their participation in the climate negotiations as members of civil society is absolutely crucial for ensuring that the Copenhagen outcomes are both just and effective,” the letter reads.
It argues that the proposed restrictions are a breach of legal obligations to ensure public participation in the negotiations. If civil society voices are marginalised now, they will be marginalised in the final outcome, says the organisation’s letter.
Friends of the Earth, Third World Network, Christian Aid and CAN are among the 50 NGOs which have signed the letter.
The NGOs are considering a protest march in reaction to the access restrictions.
In response to the restricted access the Danish Foreign Ministry has created an alternative venue at Forum for NGOs, intergovernmental organisations and observers with UN accreditation. NGOs without accreditation will be allowed to use the Øksnehallen hall in the Vesterbro district.
Both venues will be equipped with television links to the Bella Center and will be open until the early hours of each morning until the end of the conference.
