The Future Lies within Each and Every One of Us

I’m sitting at the Copenhagen airport looking out onto the snowy sunrise outside (its 8:45am, and I’ve been up for hours, but the sun is just beginning to peek through the clouds in this perpetually dark country).  This airport is probably the most incredible airport I’ve ever been to. Its like a mix between an upscale resort, a luxury shopping mall and a fine art museum.  Everything runs smoothly, police officers joke with you as you whisk through security, carolers in santa hats stroll randomly through the halls singing Christmas carols (no kidding), and there are more high-end shops than boarding gates.

Just in case you want to buy a car on your way out

I decided to use my last few Kroners on my first real Danish, and as I enjoy it I realize  that there are a lot of things I didn’t get to do in Copenhagen.  I did not get a chance to see my dad’s favorite church in the world, I didn’t see the famous little mermaid in the Copenhagen harbor, I didn’t go to any museums or historic sites, I didn’t ride the amusements or stroll through the gardens in Tivoli, I didn’t go shopping at the magical Christmas markets (please don’t expect any Scandanavian Christmas presents, friends!), I didn’t even make it to Christiania, the (ex) ‘free town’ where people lived outside the jurisdiction of the government for years.

What I did get from Copenhagen, though, was the chance to witness the very best and worst of humanity all at once.  I had the opportunity to meet people from all over the world who sacrificed so much to come here to fight for the survival of vulnerable nations and future generations they will never meet, witness brave leaders of small island nations standing up to the most powerful countries in the world and demanding to be heard, and I was able to march with people from every demographic, generation and corner of the world in the freezing cold with a shared vision for a better future.  Then, all at once, I was made to feel helpless as we were pushed out of the conversation and forced to stand back and watch as a few politicians put their own political well-being before the lives of millions.  Experiencing this jarring dichotomy firsthand on such a large scale is something that I know will have a profound impact on many of us, and though I am still processing this experience, I’m sure I am not the same as when I first landed in Denmark.

I have always been one to work ‘within the existing system;’ I have always believed in lobbying and the political process.  But thousands of youth and other stakeholders came to Copenhagen to make our voices heard: We Want a Safe Future!  One hundred thousand people marched in the cold! Candlelight vigils for survival were held all over the world!  Twelve million people worldwide signed  a petition for a fair, ambitious and binding deal!  And yet, world leaders talked and talked and did nothing.  They ‘took note of’ a document which puts the world on a path to 3.5 degrees of warming by 2100.  This means that millions of people will die, and thousands will continue to die every day.  Coming to Copenhagen, I feel the burden of those peoples’ lives now more than ever.  Why doesn’t Obama feel this same burden?  

The snow outside is so peaceful, and the thought that life is just going to go on, blanketed by this very thin veil of a false sense of security, is hard to swallow.  I have had a glimpse of what lies beneath this white gild, and I know its grotesqueness.  But I also know that nobody is giving up.  With hardly a glance backwards at this tragedy, the international youth climate movement is moving forward.  Our movement has had a chance to coalesce here in Copenhagen, and we are now stronger than ever.  Representative Jay Inslee said that we should be prepared to be frustrated for the rest of our lives, and I think that is certainly something I have learned in Copenhagen: I have made a lifelong commitment, and it isn’t going to end when the Senate Bill passes, at COP16, or even at carbon neutral.

Fortunately, I am not alone.  We have all made this commitment, and the connections I have made here are more valuable than any souvenir I could have brought home.  The road will be rough, we will have many more disappointments and crushing defeats, but as long as we have each other, we will succeed.

"The future lies within each and every one of us" -Peter Roquemore

We wanted just action, not "just" action: COP15 Failure

As you've heard, the negotiations have ended in an accord drafted by Obama with a select few countries (can you say UNDEMOCRATIC?) that has been "acknowledged" by the parties.  From what I understand, basically everyone has just put on the table what they are already doing and 'acknowledged' that they will continue to do it.  This is highly disappointing, and it remains to be seen whether it is even better than a complete failure.  I'm not sure that it is because Obama and other leaders are already touting this accord as a major accomplishment, which it is not.  Please read my friend Amira's analysis of the outcome.  I think that it is very thorough and accurate.

Here in Copenhagen, as we prepare to leave, we have not really even been paying attention to this final day of negotiations.  We know that we are not going to get what is needed to ensure the survival of all nations, and so we are looking forward.  Although we are all emotionally and physically drained after many sleepless nights and bitingly cold days, the amount of determination I see in all my new (and newer) friends' faces as I look around inspires me and shows me that COP15, outside the halls of the Bella Center, was not a failure.  This conference brought together thousands of representatives of the International Youth Climate Movement, and showed us our own strength.  We made connections that will last a lifetime, and we all know that we will not give up.  

"Our future will not be written for us. Our future will be written by us"

Today was the first day of the Conference of Youth!  What an amazing experience.  There are over 500 young people from almost every country in the world here working together to prepare for COP15.  There is so much energy, knowledge and dedication in this group of people, I am certain that we will  make ourselves heard and our leaders will not be able to ignore our vision for the future any longer.

I went to two workshops, mingled with people and watched a mini flash dance during lunch, then there was an 'open space' discussion where we broke into groups of about twenty and discussed the youth's goals, role, and how we can be most effective at COP15.  Then, we learned about the structure of YOUNGO, which (I believe) is now an official "constituency" recognized by the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).  

I went to the YOUNGO Adaptation Policy group, where we had a very productive meeting.  We identified our strategies for ensuring that funding for adaptation is included in the treaty.  We are first going to find out what the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), the African Constituency and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and any other relevant groups would like to see in the treaty, then we will identify which delegates we should target for lobbying.  As a member of Youth Supporting Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for a Just and Sustainable World, I am going to hopefully get sexual and reproductive health and rights in any adaptation document we create.  

In one of the workshops, we learned about the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which basically allows large companies in developing countries to essentially receive money from developed countries for putting in place supposed carbon reduction projects.  After we had been discussing the intricacies of this program, a young woman from the Caribbean raised her hand in anger and asked why, if there are people who live in places like her homeland, that are going to be catastrophically affected by climate change, and peoples' homes and entire countries are going to be submerged underwater, leaving them with nothing, are we pandering to businesses?  Why aren't governments doing something to stop this thing which already is harming so many peoples' lives?  It was the first time I had heard an appeal from someone who is already being affected by climate change, and it was really powerful for me because it brought home just how high the stakes are.  This is not about politics, its not about policy, and its not even about the environment. This is about the survival of real people, and as a human race we have the choice to either let them die or to stop climate change.