Introduction
The balance between war and peace may be a matter not of the nature of the differences that divide us, but of the process we use to resolve those differences Raiffa, 1991, p9 . Global negotiations - negotiations that are open to all of the world's nation states - have become an increasingly popular means of tackling pressing problems that cut across international boundaries. Environmental issues have been at the forefront of this trend, with global negotiations at the close of the last...
Different negotiating contexts have different organizational needs and
Different negotiating rounds take place within different geopolitical and historical contexts. Each negotiating round thus has its own organizational needs and opportunities, while the organization of previous negotiating rounds can have repercussions on the present. The post-Kyoto negotiations, for example, had a greater need for exploration in complementary forums given the innovative nature of their subject matter , while also facing a more conflictual context e.g. US repudiation of the...
Raising transaction costs and procedural blockage
On a day-to-day basis, the consensus imperative raises the transaction costs of the negotiation process, as greater effort is required to secure even minor decisions. One interviewee commented, 'it's very frustrating to experience the lack of voting rules and not being able to get firm decisions before you really have to', while another remarked, 'our inability to take any votes makes life difficult, because you have to deliberate so intensely over minutiae because of the wishes of a small...
Forcing consensus
Another means of overcoming the threat of procedural blockage is for the Chair to exploit the leverage granted to him her by the lack of an agreed definition of consensus. As discussed in Chapter 4, this is an extremely delicate task, requiring the Chair to make a careful judgment on whether, when pushed, a party will consent to a decision, or whether the issue is of fundamental importance to that party, and it will therefore insist on obstructing a consensus. In this respect, the Chair relies...
Making statements
Making statements in plenary meetings has long been an established channel for NGOs to input into the climate change negotiations. At its very first session, for example, the INC gave effect to the explicit call in UNGA resolution 45 212 for NGOs to 'make contributions' to the negotiations on the Convention see above by inviting 'two observers representing different groups of non-governmental organizations in effect, the BINGOs and ENGOs . to speak at the end of the general debate'. Statements...
NGO constituencies
An informal practice has emerged over time within the secretariat of recognizing constituencies of NGOs Yamin and Depledge, 2004 . Five of these are currently in place Business and Industry NGOs BINGOs Local Government and Municipal Authorities LGMAs Indigenous People's Organizations IPOs and Research-oriented and Independent NGOs RINGOs . The constituency system has developed on a bottom-up, pragmatic basis Yamin and Depledge, 2004 . ENGOs and BINGOs are the most longstanding constituencies,...
Chapter Jcy
1 In English, unless the meeting is being held in a Francophone country. 2 By watering down Canada's proposal to simply taking note of that country's intention to convene an informal meeting on the topic. For a brief discussion of the issue, see Chapter 8. 3 See the example relating to LDCs above. 4 These examples are discussed further in Chapter 8 and, in the case of general commitments, also in Chapter 4. 5 At COP 6 part II the 'last days' were in fact at the close of the first week, as the...
The roles of presiding officers
There are several different ways in which presiding officers can exercise process-oriented leadership to help overcome the challenges faced by global negotiations. Strategic organization of the negotiation process Central to the exercise of leadership by the COP President and subsidiary body Chairs, as presiding officers of the Convention bodies, is overall strategic organization of the negotiations, usually in partnership with the secretariat. Examples of such strategic organization relating...
Other publications
Agenda 21 1992 in Johnson, S. P. The Earth Summit The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development UNCED , Book II. London, Graham and Trotman, pp125-508 Albin, C. 1999 'Can NGOs enhance the effectiveness of international negotiation ' International Negotiation, vol 4, no 3, pp371-387 Andresen, S. and Skjaerseth, J. B. 1999 Can international environmental secretariat promote effective co-operation Paper presented at the International Conference on Synergies and Coordination between...
Greater procedural equity
At one level, the impact of this consensus imperative could be said to have generated greater procedural equity in the negotiations, as it meant that even the views of small minorities had to be accommodated in a consensus, rather than simply being outvoted. As one interviewee argued, 'if the case deserves attention and they minorities could be steamrollered, you would want them to have the opportunity to reach a decision by consensus'. The resulting content of the Protocol therefore...
Documentation in the climate change regime
The climate change regime, like all bodies in the UN system, works through various different types of official documents, each with their own symbols and indeed symbolic meaning. These official documents of the climate change regime are processed by the UN office at Geneva, and then archived in the UN Library. Although most of the main document types - regular documents, INFs, MISCs, CRPs and others - are prevalent throughout the UN system, the climate change regime has, within the bounds of UN...
Further final negotiating texts
Revised text under negotiation FCCC CP 1997 2 Non-paper by the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole FCCC CP 1997 CRP.2 Untitled Final draft by the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole FCCC CP 1997 CRP.6 Prepared for AGBM 5 in late 1996. Provides a narrative synthesis of proposals, indicating proponents. Prepared for AGBM 6 in early 1997 Reproduces proposals verbatim under common headings, indicating proponents Prepared for AGBM 7 in mid-1997. Includes mostly legal language, and no longer...
Primary material Official documentation statements and related material
Decisions cited may be found in part II of the report of the relevant COP session. Decision 18 CP.4, for example, can be found in the COP 4 report, part II. UN resolutions cited are available at www.un.org. AGBM 2 1995 Second session. Exchange between Estrada and delegates. AGBM 2 0059, cassette recording held with secretariat AGBM 4 report, Report of the Ad Hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate at its fourth session, Geneva, 11-16 July 1996. Document FCCC AGBM 1996 8 AGBM 6 1997 Sixth session....
Overcoming the threat of procedural blockage
Working to overcome the threat of procedural blockage is therefore a critical task for the organizers of the negotiation process. As discussed above, the main strategy for doing so is simply to encourage parties to strive extra hard to achieve consensus, through negotiated buy-in and otherwise exchanging concessions. This, indeed, is the essence of negotiation. There are other procedural tools, however, that the organizers of the negotiation process can wield to help secure a consensus when the...
The challenges of the climate change negotiations 1
As discussed in Chapter 2, two defining characteristics of global intergovernmental negotiations are complexity and inequality. The climate change negotiations exemplify these characteristics absolutely, exacerbated by the malign nature of climate change itself, as outlined above. This raises challenges to the successful unfolding of the climate change negotiations. Table 3.1 The three main phases of the climate change negotiations Period Phase and meeting held Summary Table 3.1 The three main...
Promoting a bargaining atmosphere
The main purpose of informal arenas is to promote a more constructive bargaining atmosphere. An important element in this is simply the smaller number of delegates taking part in informal arenas compared with plenary meetings. The number of people actually present at an informal group will vary widely depending on the interest in the topic. The flexibility mechanisms contact group, for example, which met during the post-Kyoto negotiations, was always very well attended, with 100 or more...
The code of conduct
A noteworthy development in the post-Marrakesh period has been the devising of a code of conduct to guide participation by NGOs in the climate change negotiations. This code of conduct - officially known as 'Guidelines for the participation of representatives of non-governmental organizations at meetings of the bodies of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change'10 - was prepared by the secretariat in consultation with the NGO constituencies. It responded to a small number of...
The climate change negotiations and the climate change regime
Despite its uniquely malign characteristics, governments were able to agree a regime, and embark on a continuous negotiation process centred on that regime, to address the problem of climate change.7 The nature and structure of the climate change regime, and the phases of the climate change negotiation process to date, are discussed below. The focus of this book is on the period since the entry into force of the UNFCCC and the first Conference of the Parties COP 1 in 1995, that is, comprising...