NGOs drive global climate agenda

BONN, Germany — Of the 1389 registered participants attending the
global warming talks in Bonn, more than half have come to lobby the
delegates. There are 661 delegates from 137 nations registered and 672
observers from 142 non-government, and inter-government organizations.
Environmental organizations carry the big stick.

Environmental organizations account for 85 of the NGOs that have sent
384 individuals to persuade the delegates. Industry, on the other hand,
is represented by 13 NGOs and has sent a total of 70 individuals to
plead its case. The remaining 44 organizations, with 215 participants,
fall into neither category, and include employees of such
inter-governmental agencies as the World Bank, Global Environment
Facility, United Nations Environment Program, and the International
Energy Agency (IEA).

Many of the environmental
NGOs participate in a coalition called the Climate Action Network
(CAN) which has become a fixture at the U.N. climate talks. The
coalition consists of environmental organizations on three continents
and is represented here by 33 individuals. Other familiar environmental
groups include The Nature Conservancy (6); Greenpeace (10); World
Wildlife Fund (10); World Resources Institute (6); International Union
for the Conservation of Nature (1); and Friends of the Earth (7).

Writing in “Foreign Affairs,” Jessica Mathews reported that these
same NGOs actually wrote the Climate Change Treaty “… in the twinkling
of a diplomat’s eye,” during the 18 months prior to the 1992 conference
in Rio de Janeiro. They have continued to dominate the development of
the Kyoto Protocol, and are now lobbying for speedy implementation.

The arm-twisting is relentless. From piles of propaganda stacked on
tables throughout the building, to sophisticated multi-media
presentations, the environmental organizations preach their gospel. The
delegates are divided into sub-groups called “Subsidiary Bodies.” Each
of the Subsidiary Bodies is further divided into “Contact Groups,” or
“Working Groups.” Each of the
small groups is assigned specific negotiating tasks. The results of
their negotiations are then brought back to the larger body for
acceptance. Environmental organizations are so well represented and
organized that teams of individuals are assigned to monitor each working
group
and lobby the individual members. There is no escape from the influence
of these environmental organizations.

When an issue appears to be emerging that is different from the
wishes of the environmental organizations, delegates can expect bizarre
demonstrations and a flood of pamphlets and position papers. Greenpeace
holds the title for the most radical demonstrations. In Berlin in 1995,
they chained and locked the doors to the meeting hall — with the
delegates inside. When the delegates
arrived in Bonn in 1997, Greenpeace welcomed them with a 40-foot
dinosaur sculpted from used automobile engines, mufflers, and tail
pipes.

Often, Industry NGOs promote a position that differs from the
environmental NGOs. Certain influential industry leaders have been
singled out by the environmental organizations for endless ridicule and
referred to as the “Carbon Mafia.”

Environmental organizations are serious about seeing the climate
change hysteria continue, and well they should be; much of their funding
depends upon it. In its June, 1998 report, the Global Environment
Facility (GEF) listed $748,142,000 in global warming projects,
$767,019,000 in biodiversity projects, and $63,672,000 in “multiple
focal areas” projects. A detailed analysis of the projects revealed that
these same NGOs were named repeatedly as executing agency or
collaborating agency, on 42 projects totaling $792,705,000 in value. The
NGOs named in these projects include: The Nature Conservancy, the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Greenpeace, World
Resources Institute, and the World Wildlife Fund. It is little wonder
that they attend every climate change meeting en masse to urge the
delegates to continue the global warming welfare program.

The billions of dollars governments give to NGOs may account for the
dramatic increase in their numbers. According to World Watch Institute’s
Annual Report released this week, the number of NGOs in the world has
risen from 1000 in 1956, to 20,000 today.

Sovereignty International is the only non-industry NGO attending the
climate change meetings that openly opposes the Kyoto Protocol. With its
three representatives, the group continues to challenge both the process
through which un-elected bureaucrats and NGO representatives create
international law, as well as the Protocol itself, on the basis of
insufficient scientific evidence, unnecessary adverse economic impact,
and the Protocol’s intrusion upon national sovereignty.