1000 emails

14 June 2011

Mamady Kobele Keita
Climate change team leader
Guinee Ecologie
Guinea

As a CAN International Southern Capacity Building Fellow, I am attending the UNFCCC June session in Bonn. Interestingly, if you want to be efficient during the climate change sessions, your best means is the email. I couldn’t imagine how useful can this tool be in negotiations. Let’s be clear.

In CAN-International, communication plays a crucial role during sessions. For this one week period, the number of emails I have received is increasingly high; more than 1000 climate change related emails if I include the emails from all the listserves I am on… For sessions, side events, workshops and informal meetings, Internet has been my best friend. It has really been useful for me for learning on issues, contacting NGOs and parties representatives, reading further development and updates on issues, following last minute changes to meetings, lobbying and campaigning, and most importantly, for building shared strategies with other CAN members.

As my first expectations, this first week really improved my understanding of the climate change negotiation atmosphere and politics, developed my contacts and network of very dedicated and passionate people. And again Communication, which 90% seems to be on email, plays a crucial role in this process.

My second goal is to take the necessary contacts and other technical resources for Guinean and other West African NGOs in order to improve their participation in the UNFCCC process, including the coming Durban COP 17 meeting where CAN has many expectations.

With regards to CAN, I think it’s for me, one of most structured and dedicated organizations I’ve never met in the climate negotiations; I personally have seen the hard work its working groups and bodies are doing behind the process. More importantly, I really appreciate the different positions taken by CAN to screen negotiations and help developing countries understanding their rights. This should be rewarded and supported.

Coming to the SCB program, I think it is a wonderful opportunity for developing countries NGOs to bring their brick to the climate building. I only hope CAN will have sufficient resources to involve more people.

Back home, my first activity will be to transfer this experience to local NGOs and maybe to think about setting up a national CAN network. I will also try to improve my participation in CAN activities by influencing decision makers at local and national levels.