AMANDLA!

I could not, in all fairness, leave COP17 without having visited the People's Space. But why did they tuck it away at UKZN? 

View from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, high up on the hills and safely tucked away from the hustle and bustle of COP17 - where the People's Space (mainly for ativists) was allocated.

 
Why not run the lectures alongside the UNFCCC Precinct? It was interesting enough, and - Lord knows - we need everyone in dialogue: governments, big business, NGOs, the activists, and SME solution providers - but wait! The solution providers weren't really there, in force - except perhaps for the 28 new alternative energy providers announced at COP...

But let's look at the People's Space @ COP17 and what I found there... as could have been expected, fliers strewn across the hall, broken seats and intensely emotional dialogue greeted me on arrival. 

SABC Obie vans using the campus as a base, but no TV cameras inside; no outdoor biosphere displays as was expected; a very few displays scattered in a tucked-away hallway and a small group of people (about 50) in a lecture room. 

Activists demonstrating in front of the ICC in Durban the previous day...

It was late in the day and they were talking ECONOMIC JUSTICE - no surprise there... The whole climate issue faced by NGOs is equivalent to what NUMSA faces in their bargaining and industrial strategies: re-considering the use, values and impact of what it is they are doing. So let's see what they said...

Why not partner with the labour unions as environmental activists? 
Trade unions are assisting with the jobs market and exploitation of the labour force needs to be addressed as much as education of the labour force (in climate issues). Activists were adamant that Sasol and the SA delegation at COP17 needed to be exposed.

"In emerging economies such as SA, Brazil and Nigeria, you have the largest number of corporate delegates in the negotiating parties. However, this does not necessarily help NGOs. The Right2Know Campaign in SA, for instance, will drive NGOs further from corporate access and force more doors to close on them." (Wise words!)

Clever barriers in UK legislation prevent corporate information from becoming publicly available. Another problem is that the labourers (represented by unions) are, in their daily work, helping the big corporates to do what it is the activists are trying to stop. 

"Public debate is necessary with the business community."

Economic justice, women’s, agricultural and political movements are all about social justice. Popular education and building people’s power is a challenge for NGOs.

The InternationalPeople’s Tribunal on Ecological Debt (with legal teeth) has been mapped out for a long time now, but NEEDS CASES that can stand up in court, and depends heavily on regional processes. NGOs have neither the time nor the resources to do this properly.

Also, case study tabling is often not seen to be the most urgent political priority as legal mechanisms have limitations. But this attitude by NGOs hampers access to the global funding mechanisms they so direly need to continue.

"It is a sad truth that, as climate injustice continues,local struggles demand too much from NGOs. Why take on the corporates in the courtroom when popular education could engender consumer behavioural change and much more direct pressure on a corporate’s bottom line?"

Too often, NGOs speak among themselves in a jargon tainted with an insider feel and heavy, serious language. The right has something the left doesn’t have: IRONY. Perhaps time to re-create, lighten up?

But despair not, there was some good news shared among the activists: "A big Brazilian mine (name not mentioned) operating internationally will have People’s Sessions with the NGOs at Rio+20 to engage in dialogue."
Perhaps spend less time in universities and negotiations and more time on the streets and fields where the problems exist?

There was also much talk about the Earth Charter currently being worked into a legal format, which was discussed that morning by lawyer discussed and Earth Jurisprudence veteran Cormac Cullinan at a ClimateTrain event in the morning after the activists under Greenpeace staged a direct action at the Engen refinery in Durban.

My personal view on the eve of departing from COP17? I’ve listened to, and engaged with, government representatives, big business, the NGO’s and activists. But there’s one party excluded from discussions here, in fact from COP itself in a big way: the SME solution providers! Let's hope Rio+20 sees a drastic change in this illogical skew!