Anatomy of a Meltdown

This title has two meanings.  One refers to COP15 and one refers to myself.  There is no way to describe what this week has been like.  It has been an absolute emotional roller coaster, and since yesterday I have felt like I have failed.  So many of you have believed in me, and it seems like this conference is going to end with nothing, and since I am here I can't help feeling like that is partially my fault.  I know this is absolutely ridiculous, and I guess I just had unrealistic expectations for what could happen at this conference and what I could do at this conference, but I now feel completely jaded about the entire political process.

Today the CCN met with Jeremiah Baumann, Senator Merkley's legislative aid for energy and the environment at a hotel one metro stop past the Bella Center.  (He was amazing, by the way!!  And I am one hundred percent glad that Senator Merkley represents Oregon!) We met at this kind of posh hotel that was bustling with people who were there for the conference, including official delegations.  In the lobby there was this sign for side events for the Carbon Trading Exchange (or something, I'm not sure), and it had the logos of all of its sponsors: Chevron, BP, Shell, Goldman Sachs.  And it hit me.  We have been focusing our efforts in the wrong place.  The Bella Center is not where the negotiations go down.  It is at these hotels where delegates are schmoozed by business leaders.  I guess coming from the US, I should have known this already, but it just kind of solidified for me what is happening here.

I'm sorry that this blog post is so depressing... Unfortunately, it is probably less depressing than it could be.  But there is one thing that gives me strength, and I'm so thankful to my new friends for reminding me of this: the climate movement is not giving up.  The youth and the environmental NGOs aren't going to stop until we achieve climate justice, even if it takes 6 months or 6 years.

Muting of Civil Society

Civil society has begun to be shut out of the conversation.  Just when we realize that we have only five days to push countries to act, our access is limited.  Yesterday, sometime during the afternoon the Bella Center stopped letting people in.  Today and tomorrow, only 30% of observer organizations will be let in.  On Thursday, 1,000 people total out of 35,000 registered will be allowed in, and on Friday, just 90 people will be let in to the negotiations.  

We are angry, but this shut out comes as a catalyst for even more action.  As activists, we realize that WE are the ones who are here in Copenhagen, and thus the duty to act falls on our shoulders.  Unfortunately, as Americans, my friends and I are dually burdened.  It is imperative that Americans understand that the United States’ inaction on climate change is dooming millions of people and full nations to death.  The rest of the world is looking to us go join the debate in a meaningful way.

If something isn’t done about climate change, the reality is that people will continue to die in greater and greater numbers.  Yes, at first it will be small island nations and countries prone to drought and floods, but soon all of us will be affected.  To ensure the survival of all nations, we must pass a treaty that is based on science: one that will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350ppm or less, with a global temperature rise of no more than 1 degree Celsius. Our futures are intrinsically bound together, and we must stand together in an unequivocal call to action.  

Call Obama and your senators to demand action on climate change today.  

-White House Comment Line Number: 202-456-1111

-Senators’ Numbers: www.senate.gov

Meet me by the Giant Purple Balloon next to the Pandas with Flames on their Heads and After the Dragon

It is hard to describe for you what it is like to be a part of a 100,000 person event.  I can only give my small 1/100,000 of a perspective.  Jette, Ebbe, Katherine and I rode into the city together, and had to get off early because it wasn’t running its full route due to the march. People were streaming from all different directions to the starting point - Parliament Square. Once we met up with some of the people from our group (which was no easy task), we grabbed a bite to eat at a bakery that was so busy it was giving numbers out like it was the DMV, and watched a creative street performance of some guys who could play entire songs on half full beer bottles.  We began to walk with the march.  The crowd went on for days (or, rather ~4 miles I am told), and the general attitude was one of collective joy and determination. 

My group was kind of moving through the crowd because we were trying to find the ‘youth’ section,’ so we saw the variety of the people involved.  There were people with communist flags, a party bus that was blaring techno music and shooting gold confetti, about 20 humans dressed as panda bears, a campfire on wheels (this was great because it was freezing out!), a group of people wearing green construction hats who every few minutes would stop then run forward, a life-sized marionette with people acting out the roles of world leaders being played by big business, several sails, an ark, and so much more.  It was very easy to get separated from each other, and once we were separated, it was very hard to find each other again, but the instructions for how to meet were something like “meet me by the giant purple balloon next to the pandas with flames on their heads and after the dragon.” 

There were police present, but I did not see any conflict between demonstrators and the police whatsoever.  In fact, people were taking pictures with the riot cops, and one cop even held a sign for a picture.  As far as I know, the entirety of the march was completely peaceful, except for the 900 or so outrageous detainments at the end of the demo.  

As the sun went down, we all began to gather in the streets outside of the Bella Center. We bought big candles for the candlelight vigil and joined the thousands of people from around the world in dancing and listening to inspiring speakers. I think this has to be one of the largest and most international events ever.  There were literally people from every corner of the globe represented, and we are all calling on our leaders to pass a fair, ambitious and legally binding deal in Copenhagen to ensure a safe future.

Read more here

KPOV in Copenhagen

I'm doing some reporting for my favorite radio station KPOV!  Listen to my first two reports here!

Sunbreak

Today is the day of the big march, and I've got my mermaid outfit on.  No, really - I'm going as a mermaid (pictures to come)!  There is a certain amount of trepidation in the air.  We are all hoping for a peaceful protest, but you can never be sure.  I was talking with a Danish woman at a bar last night, and she said she had a five year old son and his school advised them to stay inside today.  But this morning is the first time I've seen sunshine since I left Oregon, so I am taking that as a sign.  I think people from all over the world are going to come together to show our so-called 'leaders' that we want a fair, ambitious and binding deal in Copenhagen.

The Feel of Hopenhagen

Jeremy, one of the organizers of Powershift West, and one of my friends who is also here with the CCN, is also a much better blogger than I am.  Here is his overview of Copenhagen and COP15 made up of good pictures and their captions.  I think he does a really good job of giving the feel of the city and the conference.  Read his post here.

Meetings, Meetings, Meetings

I'm sitting in a room in the Bella Center called Leonora Christina waiting for the COP 15 president (Connie Hedegaard)'s briefing for civil society.  I arrived at the Bella Center not too long ago after some much needed sleep!

Apparently one of the big stories in the US is about Bella Center security - which I think is kind of funny because it took me like 7 minutes to get through security this morning, lines and all.  Next week, though, is when the (more than 100!) heads of state will begin to arrive, and I'm sure that security will begin to ramp up soon in preparation for that.

Yesterday was exhausting.  After our Cascade Climate Network meeting (follow us here!), I met with the international youth adaptation policy group.  We spent four hours reading the actual text being negotiated and picking out areas we want to support.  In UN negotiations, you will have the text of the treaty, and any portion of the text that is still in contention will be [bracketed].  Based on the policy principles we had already agreed to support, we chose about ten portions of the text that we are going to advocate to be unbracketed.  We sent our recommendations to the YOUNGO Spokescouncil meeting to be approved by representatives from all the youth groups who are here.

After snagging a free dinner (a fairly foul hummus & zucchini sandwich at a reception... I am the worst vegetarian ever, I know), I went to this awesome event between Chinese and American youth.  There are about 40 young people from China here, and we had a shared visioning session together.  It was really powerful to talk about our governments' roles in these negotiations and how we can work together to build a relationship of trust and mutual understanding between our two countries.

Well, Connie never showed up for the briefing (that's the way things go here - the schedule is always being changed) so now I am eating a carrot cake (what is it with the Danes and carrot cake??) and drinking a coffee at one of the many busy cafes throughout the Bella Center, prepping for the next meeting.