COP10.org

– A Guide for Those Heading to Nagoya for COP10

By Eric Johnston
Feb 12, 2010

PART I—NGOs

Overture
Experience may be the best teacher, but only a poor fool relies exclusively upon it. To be forewarned is to be forearmed, and given that no less than the survival of life on earth and in the seas is at stake at the United Nations COP10 biodiversity conference, any NGO lamb who arrives in the urban jungle of Nagoya this October unprepared for certain realities will be quickly devoured by wild beasts wearing delegate or press badges, or run to ground by those under the influence of the Ministry of Trade, Economy, and Industry.

Given that climate change and biodiversity loss are strongly interlinked, and given the disaster that was last December’s climate change conference in Copenhagen and the current hand-wringing over what it means for not only COP10 but also the follow up climate change conference taking place shortly after Nagoya, it’s stunning to see COP10 so low on the list of international political and media priorities. Such lack of attention may please those hoping for a smoothly run kabuki performance by a select few that ends in a smoke-filled backroom agreement benefitting Fortune 500 companies. But hiding its light under a bushel doesn’t make it likely that COP10 will reach a treaty that actually forces the world to preserve biodiversity.

Of course, it’s easy to make excuses for COP10’s low profile. Yes, there are no former U.S. vice presidents or Hollywood stars banging the drum on biodiversity to the extent we see with climate change. Yes, the damn thing is being held in Nagoya of all places. Yes, the limousine motorcades will be delivering low-level, anonymous bureaucrats to the plenary sessions and gala state dinners, not people you address as ``Prime Minister’’ or ``Mr. President’’. So nobody expects a circus with 200,000 participants, which is what happened in Copenhagen. In fact, when you add the horrible economy, the travel time and expense, and the length of the entire conference (18 days total, as opposed to 11 days in Copenhagen) even the official estimate of 7,000 attendees at COP10 appears optimistic.

Still, with biodiversity loss accelerating in ways not even the best scientists understand, and with the dangers of that loss expected to threaten all life forms, including us tool making apes, in the coming years, you’d think far more attention would be devoted to the importance of an international treaty on biodiversity, the purpose of COP10, in newspaper editorials, TV studios, and the blogosphere. At the moment, though, biodiversity isn’t feeling the love of politicians, bureaucrats, film and music stars, or the dreaded mainstream media to the extent it’s more flashy and popular twin brother climate change currently enjoys. But that doesn’t mean NGOs should sit this one out.

"Never a more wretched hive of scum and villainy"
Obi-wan Kenobi, "Star Wars: A New Hope"

There will be all manner of concerned folk in Nagoya, although we still do not know what the final arrangements will be for NGOs. Those will not likely be known before April. Obviously, there will be legions of cheap polyester suits from the corporate/bureaucratic worlds in attendance, passing out polished propaganda on DVDs on their efforts to preserve biodiversity, meeting industry lobbyists at professionally designed booths in the NGO sector, and giving press conferences that start and finish on time, and where the microphones don’t screech with feedback or the PowerPoint slides ever fail to work.

It’s also a given that a good number of those wearing press badges will be (1) Nagoya-based Japanese reporters less interested in the plight of the snow leopard or the Great Barrier Reef and more concerned with whether or not foreign journalists and NGOs can eat Japanese food; (2) hard boiled political hacks who race around the hall grabbing quotes from officials, parsing lines of UN text for hidden meaning like some character in a Dan Brown novel and expressing zero interest in ``the big picture’’ because they’ll get fired if they don’t immediately file that quote by an anonymous source ``close to the Luxembourg Deputy Vice Minister for the Environment’’ who just dropped a bombshell about the next informal meeting to decide when to hold the formal meeting to decide what the informal text should read; and (3) reporters from media like FOX News or the Wall Street Journal Op-Ed page, i.e. those for whom biodiversity policies are fine as long as they don’t interfere with the price of oil and the industrial progress of the 150 years.

But there will also be journalists at COP10 who are intellectually honest, concerned, on your side, and very interested in what you have to say –as long as you say it in a way that is understandable and persuasive. Here then, are a few reminders spiced with anecdotal chagrin that anybody contemplating an NGO badge may wish to skim through before they head up river into the Heart of Darkness that is a UN press center. Much of the below is common sense, of course. But that’s why it bears repeating.

1)    Register Early: As we know, grassroots (as opposed to corporate) NGOs are notorious for putting everything off until the absolute, very last minute and their organizational skills can make the Italians look like the Germans. Start your reconnaissance on both Nagoya and the Convention on Biological Diversityhttp://www.cbd.int/cop10/ itself as soon as you’ve finished this screed. COP10 already appears less NGO-friendly, judging by the website, than Copenhagen was, so keep checking for when registration starts and start thinking about logistics. A sympathetic friend in Japan can also act as your sherpa for things like cheap but convenient hotels to the conference center. If you’re not registered and booked for a hotel by around the beginning of July, you run the risk of having to spend a lot of time and money commuting from the outskirts of town.

Given what happened to NGOs in Copenhagen, and given that Japanese police are not as warm and fuzzy as their Danish counterparts, it’s well within the realm of possibility that NGO attendance will be restricted ``due to security reasons’’. Some NGOs will want to talk about biodiversity subjects such as the protection of marine mammals (read: whales). So you can bet your geta that applications from foreign NGOs will be closely examined to ensure no ``eco terrorists’’ slip through immigration. Several foreign NGO reps were denied permission to enter Japan on the eve of the G8 summit in Hokkaido two years ago, and I would imagine we’ll hear stories of a few finding their applications for COP10 were denied or unable to clear customs. Don’t give Japanese officialdom an excuse to keep you away by missing the application deadline or filling out the requisite form wrong, as you are unlikely to get much slack.

2)    Have a Clear Narrative That Is Jargon-Free Once You Do Arrive: These are complex issues we’re dealing with. But members of the media, even if they know the details, don’t always want to hear them because they can’t USE them as a direct quote or incorporate those details into a story. Here, I should point out that Japanese NGOs in particular can be absolutely horrible when it comes to dealing with the international media. Forget trouble with the English language. Most have trouble using Japanese to explain things in a way that can be understood by those without Ph.D’s in environmental science. The point, though, is that with a clear narrative (backed by scrupulously honest facts and data that can be passed out later) you get your message across. Without a clear message, you’re a sideshow if you engage in stunts for the cameras or a bunch of obsessive frogs in the well, croaking only to each other, your voices amplified by the narrow confines of the well but completely unheard by the outside world.

3)    Don’t Be Grim: As Oscar Wilde noted, the worst thing about a fanatic is his sincerity. Too many sincere NGOs with a clear message lack the ability to get that message out because they come across in informal interviews and formal press briefings as shrill, brittle, and humorless. Likewise, pedantic posturing, or pontificating in the manner of a stern schoolmaster is a quick way to flunk out with the media, especially at a conference as long as this one. COP10 is nearly three weeks from start to finish. By the end, we’re all going to be punchy or grumpy from lack of sleep, bad conference hall food, and UN -speak. A sense of humor in the midst of the craziness that is a UN press room, will always be remembered and rewarded.

4)    Make Sure You Have A Rapid Response In Place To Major Developments: Ideally, you will get your message out in the following ways: (1) Twitter; (2) Website Posting; (3) Paper copy delivered to each reporter you can find, with extra copies available somewhere in the pressroom. At the Copenhagen conference, international NGOs had responses to the media within 30 minutes on whatever the major news announcement of the day was. While many of these were directed towards pronouncements by sources close to the Luxembourg vice minister for the environment, it’s also true you’re less likely to get your main message out if people don’t see that you’re also making an effort to respond to developments that the media, as opposed to your NGO, considers important.

5)    Do Regular Briefings, Even If There is No ``News’’: The structure of COP10 means reporters will always be desperate for quotes from knowledgeable sources, especially during the last three days when the official sessions will likely be closed to the media. If you or your NGO isn’t giving at least one press conference or releasing one announcement a day, you run the risk of being forgotten in the pressroom. When you do briefings, however, you need to be crisp, clear, and concise. A press conference should last more than 30 minutes, and at least half of that time should be reserved for Q&A. The cardinal sin of NGOs is to turn a press conference into an information dump and talk in a rapid-fire voice about a dozen different things in excruciating detail. A press conference is not a monologue. It’s an opportunity to present what you believe are the most salient points that are immediately relevant to events going on around you, and then answer any and all questions.

6)    Make Sure You Are Physically Visible: At COP10, as in most major UN conferences, the big NGOs will have prominent booths and will likely grab the best time slots for the shared NGO press room(s). But do your best to ensure you’re in a position to physically see and grab reporters and delegates passing by. If there is an NGO Plaza type arrangement at Nagoya outside the main conference hall, make sure you’re in a part of the plaza with heavy traffic. If getting to the NGO center requires a ``Lord of the Rings’’ –like journey on the part of the press, figure out a way to get closer to the pressroom. For example, one NGO at Copenhagen scouted out a table ostensibly part of a restaurant that just happened to be located five meters from the press center entrance. They spent a lot of money on coffee to hold the table, but managed to stay there for three days and meet every journalist walking in and out of the center before all of the NGOs were kicked out just before the world leaders arrived. If the UN stays true to form, NGOs will NOT be allowed into the press center at COP10 unless they are invited by somebody with a press badge. But that’s pretty easy to get around, especially if you’re, er, around the press center.

7)    Be Prepared For A Tight Bureaucracy: When things are going smoothly, the Japanese way can be very good news as it means greater efficiency. However, the mindset among Japanese bureaucrats and some NGO types is heavily dependent upon precedent and can completely freeze up when confronted with the unexpected. ``Improvising on the fly’’ can take an inordinate amount of time. Over the years, I’ve had more than one international attendee at a UN conference complain to me, off the record but loudly and emotionally, about ``communication problems’’ and paralysis on the part of their Japanese colleagues in the government and the NGO community. But that’s the way it is. Also remember that UN officials panicked in Copenhagen over NGO attendance and Japanese officials may conclude the best way to avoid another COP15 is to be stricter and more bureaucratic with international NGOs and visitors, not less.

In 1997, when I covered the Kyoto Protocol conference, NGOs were often staffed by well-meaning individuals who were very smart but very policy wonkish and media unfriendly, or by those more interested in getting on the boob tube by shouting slogans and waving banners than in getting things done. Outside Japan, that has largely changed. Many NGOs, be they small or large, well-funded or operating on a shoe-string budget, consist of those who have come of age since the 1999 Seattle protests. They are far more media-savvy and business-like than their predecessors, yet just as committed to real change.

Japanese NGOs are also earnest and well-organized, and Japan’s top environmental NGO leaders who travel abroad often or have international NGO experience are particularly competent and an absolute joy to interview. As citizens of the host government, they will most likely exert some influence on how Japan manages the COP10 proceedings. Your dealings on a personal level with them will no doubt go well. But as someone who has dealt professionally with Japanese and international NGOs for over 15 years, I’d be remiss if I didn’t add that, when it comes to communication and international media strategies, Japan’s NGOs as a whole are at least a decade behind their international counterparts. Worse, if what I saw in Copenhagen with Japan’s climate change NGOs is true for Japan’s biodiversity NGOs, there is a risk they will prove more of a liability than an asset to media strategies those in the international NGO community might wish to pursue.

There is still time for NGOs in and out of Japan to build the necessary bridges of trust and communication that will ensure an effective media message and a successful COP10. The people involved with this Website are moving heaven and earth to do just that. So stay tuned, and, by all means, provide your own ideas on how NGOs can build those bridges, even if you aren’t planning on being in Nagoya itself. The fate of our planet depends on it

PART II will appear shortly.

Eric Johnston is deputy editor of The Japan Times and based out of Osaka. He covered the Kyoto Protocol conference in 1997, the Copenhagen Accord conference last December, and is a veteran of nearly a dozen other UN conferences in Japan and overseas. The opinions expressed within are his own and not those of The Japan Times.