Disenfranchisement of Countries and Civil Society at COP-15 in Copenhagen

Abstract

Civil society organizations were disenfranchised, as were many countries, at COP-15 in Copenhagen in December 2009. The main forces that contributed to this disenfranchisement were not, however, increased registration and the merging of movements within civil society. Poor planning did contribute to the disenfranchisement; however, in cooperation with state actors, this was also to some extent overcome at COP-15. The unusual process by which the Copenhagen Accord was developed did disenfranchise civil society and many countries. Major concerns regarding the undemocratic nature of this process and the inadequacy of the Accord were raised by some countries in the final plenary of COP-15. These countries were backed by a number of civil society organizations that had already denounced the Accord as a non-deal, contributing to the COP not adopting the Accord as a formal decision. The Accord's existence was eventually only noted by the final COP-15 plenary, reflecting this widespread disaffection.