WWViews enabled roughly 4,400 citizens from 38 countries all over the world to define and communicate their positions on issues central to the UN Climate Change negotiations (COP15), which took place in Copenhagen from December 7 – 18, 2009.
The main objective of WWViews was to give a broad sample of citizens from across the Earth the opportunity to influence global climate policy. An overarching purpose was to set a groundbreaking precedent by demonstrating that political decision-making processes on a global scale benefit when everyday people participate.
In each country a group of 100 citizens – all lay people representative of the nation’s demographic composition – were asked to participate. At the end of the session they would answer the same questions and, formulate their own advice to their respective national COP15-delegations.
The Norwegian people’s panel gathered in “Folkets Hus” in Oslo to a productive day with fertile discussions and innovative suggestions. Among topics on the agenda were:
- Climate burden sharing between industrialized countries and developing countries
- The Norwegian climate commitment and contribution to COP15
The Norwegian participants put into words their own climate advice (lenke). These were formally handed over to the Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim on Wednesday 1st of October (lenke). The top three advice from the Norwegian panel were:
# 1: An independent climate fund now! Introduce international CO2 taxes on fossil fuel, so the international flight transport might be restricted. The taxes should be managed by an UN-governed fund, and tied to support and development of new technology, assistance and limitations of climate damages, and other lowering efforts of GHG (Green House Gases) – like rainforest protection.
#2: Mutual responsibility for our common future! Norway has to take a leading role. Norway needs to reduce the GHG emissions by 40 % within 2020. The future sociable development should be based on clean energy and more energy efficient infrastructure and industry. New “green” technology must be exported to all not Annex1 countries.
#3: Disperse climate knowledge! We need to and can prevent/stop further climate change. All nations need to enter into a new agreement in Copenhagen. Schools and scholars, scientists and religious communities, should contribute in the spreading of climate knowledge – the causes and consequences of climate change.
The first ever global citizen consultation is coordinated by the World Wide Views-alliance. The Norwegian Board of Technology is the Norwegian partner in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment.