
20 May, 2011The United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is to hold its 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) in Durban, South Africa from 28 November to 9 December 2011. This is a government negotiations space where there is limited room for engagement by civil society. However, civil society and organised labour is working hard to raise awareness on climate change issues and ensure that their voices are heard not only at COP 17 but at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012. The 2012 conference is known as Rio+20, as it is to take place 20 years after the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio where the concept of sustainable development was adopted by governments for the first time and which launched key political processes on sustainable development like the COP climate negotiations.