BY EDMUND SMITH-ASANTE
A new report launched today, has affirmed
that although international climate negotiations are crawling at a snail pace,
civil society has indeed become influential and plays key roles in pushing for
new laws, programmes, policies or strategies on climate change.
According to the report - Southern voices on climate policy choices:
civil society advocacy on climate change released in Bonn, Germany, civil
society has also become instrumental in holding governments to account on their
commitments; in identifying the lack of joined-up government responses to
climate change; and in ensuring that national policy making does not forget the
poor and vulnerable.
Made public at the UN climate talks in Bonn
by a coalition of more than 20 civil society networks in developing countries,
with support from the International Institute for Environment and Development
(IIED) and CARE through the Climate Capacity Consortium, the report provides an
analysis of the tools and tactics advocacy groups use to influence policy
responses to climate change.
It also highlights the importance to civil
society networks of engaging with the media to reach the general public and key
decision-makers, and of having good relations with governments to influence
policy making and planning.
In Zimbabwe, for example, the Climate Change
Working Group has successfully advocated for a new national climate change strategy, while as a result of
advocacy activities by the Cook Islands Climate Action Network, a climate
change unit has been established within the office of the Prime Minister, to
ensure that the issue falls within the portfolio of the highest government
officials.
The report also describes how civil society
advocacy efforts have influenced international processes, donors and
multilateral organisations such as the World Bank, and in some cases the
private sector.
Commenting on the new report, the editor, Dr.
Hannah Reid of IIED, said “Many of even the world's poorest countries now have
active civil society coalitions that work on climate change, and they are
increasingly influential.”
“These coalitions can play an important role
as bridges between vulnerable communities and those with the power to enact
policies that can protect people from the impacts of climate change. This
report will help these coalitions learn from each other as many operate in
isolation,” she added.
For his part, William Chadza from the Civil
Society Network on Climate Change in Malawi said: “It is interesting for us to
see how colleagues in countries as distant as Vietnam work with vulnerable
communities as they adapt to climate change and strive to ensure their
government can address these people’s concerns.”
He added that “While some governments in industrialised
nations seem to ignore climate change, this report shows how in the global
Southern civil society organisations are working hard to promote solutions and
climate justice for those affected.”
All is however not rosy, as the report as well describes some of
the challenges experienced by the coalitions, such as the lack of skills and
resources needed to meet their advocacy objectives. The report further reveals
that where relations between government and civil society are weak, civil
society involvement in key policy making arenas has not been adequate.
The report includes contributions from more
than 20 climate networks and their member organisations in Africa, Asia, Latin
America and the Pacific, which work together in the Southern Voices on Climate
Change programme funded by the Government of Denmark through the Climate
Capacity Consortium, comprised of four Danish NGOs, Climate Action Network
International and IIED, with CARE Denmark as the lead agency.
No comments:
Post a Comment