Empowering the People: Towards the Inclusion of a Global Civil Society in a New Climate Change Regime

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) acknowledges the global nature of climate change and encourages the widest participation in tackling this issue. However, climate change initiatives are still targeted at the national level, and the disconnect between national and global initiatives have resulted in huge disparities between the speed and effectiveness of policies among signatory countries. This chapter supports the development of a global civil society to encourage a concerted effort between states. More importantly, it recognises that citizens remain at the core of any such effort and calls for the inclusion of 'green values' as part of the nation-building exercise.