Left in the Cold

It was 8 a.m. when I alighted from the train from the city centre to register for the conference as an NGO delegate for Friends of the Earth Ireland. In the sub zero temperatures the beginnings of a 500m queue of humanity could just be discerned stretching into the distance beyond the railway station. 3 hours later I had reached the railway station again, cold and weary, but still hopeful that the gates would at last open to the Bella Centre. The crowd around was generally patient and kept alert by the occasional noisy demonstration, extolling the virtues of a vegan lifestyle or denigrating the Australian government for their support of the world's largest coal export industry.

The morning light brightened the scene, though the wind began to pick up and a few snow flurries appeared. Those lucky enough to have accreditation completed last week moved quite swiftly into the building, leaving several hundred souls to move only slowly towards the head of the queue. The hours passed and nothing was moving. 8 hours of standing and freezing began to take its toll as a woman fainted and the crowd grew increasingly restive. Darkness fell and the temperature plunged again below zero. At 5.15 the organisers announced that no more accreditation would take place and the several hundred disappointed individuals began the trudge home. It was a bitter pill to swallow and the chanting and booing from the previously placid crowd was mainly directed at the UN organisers.

The conference has turned into an organisational shambles for the NGOs from Ireland, and even for members of the press who were similarly left out in the cold. It appears the last minute surge in interest has saturated the facilities. Rumours abound that most delegations included huge numbers of NGOs in their party. A figure of several hundred was mentioned as the size of one South American country. Ireland's 19 delegates did not include any NGOs. The picture becomes bleaker over the next few days as the organisers enforce a ruthless quota system on NGO delegates. Up to 75% will be turned away.

The Irish Embassy hosted a reception for all the Irish representatives at which Minister Gormley conveyed his personal excitement at being at such a potentially historic event. It was a pleasant way for some of us to warm up after a day of failure. Hopefully the progress inside the building was better.