NGOs Drive Global Climate Agenda

By Henry Lamb

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 have sent a total of 70 individuals to plead their 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 (TNC); the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN); Greenpeace; World Resources Institute (WRI); and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). 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 unelected 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.

Henry Lamb is the Executive Vice President of the Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO), and Chair of Sovereignty International.