As I write this, security are moving through the Bella Centre and are evicting the NGO observers who refused earlier requests to leave. WWF, Greenpeace and a few other NGO’s have staff who defied the earlier requests to vacate the building but have been removed now. This follows the earlier removal of Avaaz and FoE for organising a flash mob inside the cente.
As the talks reach crunch point it is a disturbing sign that the policy experts and communicators that have been evicted – essentially shutting down any pretense of transparency.
The negotiations have stalled and it is now looking more and more likely that leaders will make a compromise agreement that is far short of what is needed. No wonder they don’t want scrutiny.
Apparently there will be around 50 NGO observers (in total, from all over the world) allowed back into the centre tomorrow but the reality is that the final deals will be taking place without public scrutiny or transparency.
As for accountability, well, that is going to have to be up to the rest of us on the outside – over the next few days and over the coming months, even years – until they get it right.
But as they say, it aint over till its over – and there is a huge global movement pushing for a strong treaty at Copenhagen over the next couple of days, combined with unprecented media attention and a powerful political mandate. But regardless of what the outcome is, it is clear that Copenhagen is far from the end. It is just the beginning.
