Application Pending for UNFCCC Observer Status

The UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change)  meets annually to conduct business and negotiate agreements to address climate change.  More than 190 countries participate in this process.  In addition thousands of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) attend as Observers.  Beyond War has applied for official Observer status.  We expect to learn whether we will be admitted as Observers by August 2011.  If admitted we will be eligible to send representatives to the 2011 Conference of the Parties (COP17) which will convene in South Africa in December 2011.In December 2009 Bill and Elaine Hallmark attended the COP15 in Copenhagen as representatives of Mediators Beyond Borders and to explore Beyond War's potential involvement in future COPs.   COP16 was convened in Cancun Mexico, but we were not able to attend as representatives of Beyond War because the deadline for applications was retroactively changed to a date too early for us to apply.We are looking forward to attending the COP17 but will have to assess the practicallity of doing so after we gain admission and can deteremine whether we still have time to arrange for facilities at the conference. (This cannot be done in advance of admission.)  If you are interested in participating, please let us know.  We each pay our own way, but we can assure you participation is a life changing experience.  It is simply incredible to experience nearly all the countries of the world working together to address the current and future threats being engendered by climate change.