Rift between negotiators and civil society at COP25 becoming very obvious

(EurActiv, 12 Dec 2019) As civil society pushes for more ambition in fighting climate change, the slow pace of negotiations at the COP25 climate summit in Madrid is frustrating activists. EURACTIV France reports.

With more than 20,000 people gathered in Madrid, the COP25 is already a success in terms of mobilisation and organisation.

But the community of “observers”, in which NGOs, activists, companies and think-tanks are mixed up, was shocked by the attitude of the security services, as they temporarily blocked their access on Wednesday (11 December) and expelled 300 activists from the COP after a somewhat noisy demonstration by young people.

The United Nations services then provided an explanation and everything went back to normal. But the episode highlights the frustration of civil society, which came en masse to support the negotiators, but ultimately felt excluded.

However, there are far more meeting places than before, and young people, as well as minority representatives, have been invited to speak in plenary sessions on several occasions alongside officials.

But such invitations are nevertheless more readily given to the former US Secretary of State John Kerry, who spoke in Madrid on Thursday, than to the activists.

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EurActiv, 12 Dec 2019: Rift between negotiators and civil society at COP25 becoming very obvious