Summit meant to unite world leaves many literally out in cold

IT IS symptomatic of the lack of progress at the climate change talks that the summit meant to unite the whole globe in solidarity…

IT IS symptomatic of the lack of progress at the climate change talks that the summit meant to unite the whole globe in solidarity has left so many out in the cold, metaphorically and literally.

The increasingly fraught atmosphere came to a head when police used tear gas and arrested 260 people in an attempt to quell a demonstration involving an estimated 3,000 protesters. The images of batons drawn, riot gear and tear gas are more reminiscent of G20 and G8 summits than the normally collegiate and genteel UN climate change conferences.

But the recurring thread of the last three days of the conference has been division. Between north and south. Between rich and poor. Even the main opposing groups have had internal splits. Among richer nations, there are big gaps between the EU and the US. And splits emerged yesterday within the most influential grouping from the developing countries, the G77-plus-China bloc.

But the most fractious split has involved the growing disillusion of thousands of delegates from the myriad non-governmental organisations attending. This has arisen for two reasons. The first is the frustratingly slow progress of talks and a growing perception among some NGOs that parties and business are putting their narrow interests ahead of the urgent need to address the crisis.

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The second is a logistical one. The organisation of the summit has been a shambles. UN efforts to make the conference as inclusive and transparent as possible have led to an administrative nightmare. Some 45,000 people registered to attend the Bella Centre, which can hold 15,000.

There were extraordinarily long queues, with people waiting many hours outside in the cold. Prof John Sweeney, from NUI Maynooth, spent 16 hours waiting in queues over two days.

In an effort to control the numbers, the UN yesterday moved to restrict NGOs. This led to the exclusion of the entire Friends of the Earth delegation. Outraged by the decision, its delegates held a sit-down protest in the lobby.

Molly Walsh of Friends of the Earth Ireland said her group had been “locked out and that suits all those who have been making locked-room deals all week”.

Within an hour, hundreds of members of other campaign groups staged a public walk-out from the centre. “We are disgusted,” said Kevin Smith of Climate Justice Action. “The targets are totally out of line with what is needed.”

Fr John Leyden, a Columban missionary from Galway and based in the Philippines, said the talks were an expression of the dysfunctional political system. “What you have had is the financial people who sold us out with a whole lot of crap,” he said. “They have taken over the process and changed it into carbon trading. Politicians are responding to corporate concerns. People are motivated by greed.”

The UN’s chief climate negotiator Yves de Boer said the protests and interruptions were unprecedented. He said he had always defended transparency but the incidents inside the conference centre tested his “courage to continue in that way”.