Do 70,000 people need to be at COP? Yes, they do.

With 70,000 people registered for #COP28UAE, there are debates about whether we need all these people here or does the UNFCCC need to start limiting the numbers and keep it only to negotiators? Will that make it more efficient? Will more things get done if we keep COP exclusive to negotiators? Let me tell you why we need civil society inside the negotiations.

It’s true that a lot of people here are just for show but a lot more work really hard to push for more ambitious climate action. But if anything I would say the head of states are more “for show” than the civil society who actually does a lot of work to push for climate action. For show is King Charles coming here for a speech. Real work are CSOs here to lobby for ambitious climate action.

The statements yesterday by the IPCC and the COP presidency about fossil fuel phase out proves that without the involvement of civil society, even “science” can be politicized and can fall under the influence of power. It’s not surprising, given that no research is 100% objective (researchers after all are humans — but that’s for another topic).

There is a very important work that civil society does in lobbying and working towards more ambitious climate action. Civil society includes also other thinktanks and scientists that do climate modelling and science where IPCC fails to take a better political stand (like yesterday).

There are also voices of indigenous people, women, and youth that we will fail to hear inside the negotiating space (where they are allowed to speak and intervene) if we don’t allow them in. The danger of the UNFCCC being a “negotiators only” space is that it will be heavily leaned towards the West and the powerful. A lot of least developed countries and developing countries don’t have enough resources (people and money) to come to COP to negotiate and many CSOs help negotiate with them.

I love that the UNFCCC is open and transparent. I love that it allows minorities to take a stand and intervene. If anything, the UNFCCC needs to be more bottom-up than top-down.

If the UNFCCC closes its doors to civil society, it will fall into another political process where the Global South and minorities are disadvantaged. We can’t make COP exclusive to mostly white men of power for them to make decisions. Civil society has an important role in the negotiations where politics can take precedence over climate action. Let’s keep it open and allow people to join the policy making space, after all these policies will decide everyone’ future and not just negotiators.