Penny wise, pound foolish

5 June 2014

We applaud the ADP Co-chairs’ tradition of emphasising openness and transparency as a key part of the party-driven ADP process. But now, it seems that this tradition might be under threat, with the Contact Group meetings limiting space for observers.  This alone was shocking enough, but given the level of interest in these critical meetings across the world, ECO was flabbergasted to be told that “due to budget constraints” the ADP Contact Group meetings won't be webcast.

Let’s get something clear. When a session is webcast, everyone with an internet connection and an interest can follow our work online. It’s real-time transparency. When it’s webcast and made available on demand, it’s full transparency.

The Co-chairs need only look as far as the system adopted by the Technology Executive Committee, which offers convenient real-time access to their sessions as well as archiving. Anyone can access them.

The UNFCCC budget should ensure that these important proceedings are webcast. To get the ball rolling, ECO offers to put up the first 500 Euros. Over to you, governments.