Decision 2/CMP.5 also requests the Executive Board to enhance the interaction and communication between the Board and stakeholders. The Board responded to this request by mandating the secretariat to initiate activities and to present a first report during this 54th Board meeting.
With the aim to enhance communication between the Board and civil society, also CDM Watch has engaged with a wide range of civil society actors to coordinate public participation with the Board. However, a significant number of obstacles within the CDM procedures seriously hinder any effective means for public participation in a manner consistent with the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol and general principles of international law.
Therefore, CDM Watch strongly calls on the Board to take a bottom-up approach to this request and to respond to obstacles raised by stakeholders as a priority. To facilitate this quest, CDM Watch has summarized suggestions for effective means for public participation in an unsolicited letter[1].
In order to increase and maintain the legitimacy of the CDM and the Executive Board’s decisions as part of international climate change mitigation effort, improvements to public participation in the CDM are essential.
The following procedural changes are imminent in the short-term:
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However, since these “unsolicited” letters are currently the only “legitimate” way of communicating with the Board, enhanced communication must therefore also include the establishment of an official procedure that is not based on unsolicited letters but on a legitimate, transparent process. Within this respect, CDM Watch has submitted another unsolicited letter demanding transparency about unsolicited letters and the establishment of a transparent process[2].
Action to be taken by the Board: Given the nature of the request related to improving communication with stakeholder, the Board should take a bottom-up approach and respond to obstacles raised by stakeholders as a priority. The Board should take the necessary steps to initiate essential improvements in public participation and to establish a legitimate, transparent process to communicate with stakeholders.
[1] Unsolicited letter sent to the CDM Executive Board on 7 May 2010 suggesting improvements for effective means of public participation in the CDM process available at http://www.cdm-watch.org/?p=861
[2]Unsolicited letter sent to the CDM Executive Board on 7 May 2010 demanding transparency about unsolicited letters and LoAs available at http://www.cdm-watch.org/?p=861
