Collapse of the badcop

The COP 15 Climate negotiations were a disaster. The end result was a three page document, now named the Copenhagen Accord ( not a treaty because it is non-binding, merely stating principles to ' take note of ') which no country has signed up to in any event. It has no lawful authority or standing at all, it is a mere statement of vague intent. This is a sin of omission. The collective failure to act is a crime against the planet and all those who live within, upon and on it.

Here are some simple suggestions on what to do next:

1. Shift the focus from commodity to responsibility

a) Instead of market provision agreements, implement binding international public trust doctrine law. Planetary protection then takes pre-eminence, with direct responsibility and protection provisions setting out specific duties and obligations. Restorative and ecological justice becomes answerable in a court of law;

b) cut the damaging subsidies and replace with emergency clean energy subsidies;

c) replace the word sustainability with responsibility in all documents.

2. Change the procedure from hidden to transparent

Transparency and accountability procedures be implemented at all levels, with legal onus to give full and frank disclosure of all proceedings. Closed door meetings are banned and all negotiations be filmed in real-time and streamed on TV, radio and online for general public access.

3. Narrow the gap between people and politicians

a) all leaders to make themselves available to their people at some point during the COP to account for their progress;

b) decriminalise the process. Cancel the extended police powers of arrest which serve only to breed a culture of fear;

c) ensure gender balance at all levels - 51% of the world is female, but 96% of the negotiators at top level are male. With more female input we would have a better balance of proposed solutions

4. Provide for, listen to and act upon the voice of the people

a) Those who come with wisdom, the indigenous voice, the activists, those who have travelled to the negotiations out of the personal agenda that they care for the planet and want to find an equitable solution. All voices be fully acknowledged and embraced, not marginalised;

b) all negotiators to be under the age of 40 - they are the ones who are going to have to live through the outcome;

c) set up real-time public voting on issues as they arise.

5. Listen to our mothers

Get a good night's sleep and eat well. Decisions made on 48 hours worth of concentrated sleep deprived negotiations fuelled by biscuits and caffeine lead to desperate and misplaced outcomes. As COP 15 so sadly demonstrated. Polly Higgins participated in the re-drafting of the Copenhagen Treaty on behalf of the People's Climate Summit. None of the people's proposals were included in the final Accord.

Collapse of the badcop

by Polly Higgins