While the final outcome of the COP15 remains uncertain, there is also much confusion about the process that will lead to this outcome. Since the start of the conference, developing countries have demanded that the negotiation process should be fair, open and transparent. Developing countries have for too long felt largely excluded from a process that often amounts to bargaining between industrialized countries - they now want their voices to be fully heard and will not hesitate to derail negotiations if they are not. Clearly however, beyond the formal plenary sessions, there is a problem of getting everyone around the negotiation table: the crucial decisions, as we know, are often made between a few people at the end of the night. In this regard, the proposal of Connie Hedegaard to rapidly organize informal consultations with selected delegations, in order to advance the process, was probably a bad idea: many countries have felt excluded from this process, fostering a climate of mistrust between industrialized countries and developing countries.

Another key issue in the negotiation process is the participation of civil society. The fact that this conference is of major importance, with the announced attendance of 119 heads of state and government, is partly due to the will of NGOs. Unlike other major UN negotiation areas, NGOs have been very closely involved in discussions in the build up to this conference, which they have both nurtured and stimulated. However, for logistical reasons, due to the Bella Center’s capacity and for the safety of delegates, the UNFCCC secretariat decided to severely limit the access of public representation to the Bella Center. Today, some 20,000 representatives of civic organizations will thus share 7000 accreditations. On Thursday, this figure will be 1000, and 90 on Friday. Contrary to what the secretariat of the UNFCCC would like us to believe, this decision is not only based on logistics: excluding civil society from a process that it has always accompanied is a deeply political decision, one which is well understood by the protesters that are currently being harassed by the police outside the Bella Center.

Whatever the outcome of the COP, we cannot do without a deep reflection on the fairness, openness and transparency of the negotiating process. It is not just a matter of logistics.