CJN! Press Conference on the 'Corporate takeover at Poznan'

Monday 8 December 2008 - The Climate Justice Now! network held a press conference on the privileged access that big corporations have to the UN negotiators and the exclusion of indigenous people and other groups.

The speakers were:
- Jorge Fugagaro, President of the Indigenous People's Organisation of the Colombian Amazon
- Ricardo Navarro, President of CESTA / Friends of the Earth El Salvador - You can listen to his comments here
- Yiorgos Vassalos, Researcher of CEO - Listen to an interview with him here

I was there to highlight the problem of corporate lobbyists also being part of government delegations in countries like Brazil (Shell, UNICA, Grupo Plantar), Italy (ENEL) or Finland (employers organisations).

The Press Release

Corporate takeover at Poznan: the facts

Poznan, Monday 6 December. For immediate release. The UN Climate Conference in Poznan is systematically privileging business lobby groups over public interest organisations, according to members of the Climate Justice Now! Coalition.1 In addition, Indigenous Peoples´ representatives do not get formal access to the negotiations, despite the fact that they are amongst the most affected by climate change.

* Who is the biggest non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Poznan? According to the official participants list, the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) has the largest NGO delegation, with 254 registered delegates at the UN Climate Conference. It is a business lobby group and not a public interest organisation.

* The space for side events at UN talks in Poznan is substantially ´privatised´, with more than half of the conference space sold off for events organised outside of the UN process. Compared to the 200 side events booked through the UN process, there are 201 events outside the UN process.2

* The Poznan Business Day offers major polluters privileged access to negotiators. This event, co-organised by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and International Chamber of Commerce with cooperation from the UNFCCC and Polish government, offers companies privileged access to senior officials, ministers and negotiators. No such spaces have been offered to Indigenous Peoples´ or other civil society organisations.

“Private sector interests have an undue influence over UN climate talks,” says Ricardo Navarro from CESTA / Friends of the Earth El Salvador. “ We are witnessing corporate delegations getting larger, while at the same time the negotiations are being watered down. The UN negotiations should focus on people´s interests, not on private sector interests.”

“Indigenous Peoples have been asking for official party status at these talks since 2001, but this has still not been granted” says Jorge Furagaro, President of the Indigenous Peoples´ Organisation of the Colombian Amazon.

The Indigenous Peoples´ delegates have lodged a complaint to the UNFCCC about the lack of an official Indigenous Peoples body within the UN climate talks process.

Further information
Juana Camacho, CENSAT AGUA VIVA / Friends of the Earth Colombia + 48 698 33 31 31 (Polish mobile number valid until Dec.11 only)
Oscar Reyes, Communications Officer, Transnational Institute + 44 7739 827 208, oscar@tni.org

Notes
1. Climate Justice Now! is a new coalition of over 160 civil society organisations committed to socially just solutions to the climate crisis. Its statement of principles can be found here: http://www.tni.org/detail_page.phtml?act_id=18992
2. These comprise: 50 that form part of the International Emissions Trading Association programme; 75 hosted by the European Union; 42 hosted by Econcern, an energy company/ consultancy. Some additional side event slots have been offered by the UNFCCC following the re-arrangement of its agenda in relation to the Eid holiday, but it is unclear how many of these are new and how many in response to cancellations.