Archbishop Desmond Tutuu addressing crowds in Copenhagen (photo by Pamela Juhl)So I've just arrived in Copenhagen. I feel a little adrift here, but I'm hoping to do what I can to help lobby our leaders to agree to a really ambitious agreement. Until a couple of weeks ago, I didn't think I'd be able to come at all, and when I did finally book my ticket, it took a while to connect with an organization that I could tag along with. So I've been hooked up with Taking It Global, who are part of a broader youth coalition lobbying here called YOUNGO, and I'm still trying to figure everything out.
Getting off the plane today was kind of exhilerating. I was too wiped from leaving Ghana to join in today (and of course, had to spend some time visiting my great aunt Jenny here), but it the whole city seems swept up in the conference. There are COP15 signs everywhere, and a lot of signs for this 'Hopenhagen' series of events to mobilize people. There was a concert the other night that Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke at, and the clips were amazing. He peered out at the crowds from behind a scarf and those famous little glasses, and smiled, 'We don't want to develop the way you have! Helloooooo rich people! We need help! Just a liiiittle sum to do it -- of $150 billion.'
The crowd laughed, but he was basically getting out in the open one of the big reasons the group of developing countries called the G77 apparently walked out today - that they want much much bigger commitments of aid from rich industrialized countries, and much more drastic emissions cuts than we've been willing to sign onto so far.
Someone sent out a press release today pretending to represent the Canadian government, and a couple news outlets like the Wall Street Journal picked it up without realizing it was a hoax. The Ugandan delegation actually responded to the fake release with a huge amount of enthusiasm, because it seemed like Canada was finally willing to make a bold about-face and offer real CO2 emissions cuts (of 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, rather than an insultingly small amount from 2006 levels) and more than $10 billion a year in aid to help developing countries adapt to the effects of climate change. And moreover, the fakesters said Canada was finally accepting the concept of climate debt: that we have a serious debt to pay as major carbon emitters for the damage we're inflicting, especially on countries in the South that are being hit worse and have fewer resources to adapt.
The sad part is that this is exactly the kind of change Canada needs to adopt, and in all likelihood completely unrealistic from our representatives. Environment Minister Jim Prentice, and our entire environmental policy, seem dead set against taking the climate crisis seriously. Last week Prentice said Canada wouldn't be swept up in the 'hype' of Copenhagen. And as Aiden Abrams said (a brilliant guy from Taking It Global I hope to meet tomorrow), we're not only not leading on this issue, it would be a stretch to say we're even following.
But you know what? Change is happening anyway. Bangladeshi climate scientist Saleemul Huq had a great editorial in the Guardian today that gives me a huge amount of hope. Looking at the huge protests on the weekend, he said:
Getting off the plane today was kind of exhilerating. I was too wiped from leaving Ghana to join in today (and of course, had to spend some time visiting my great aunt Jenny here), but it the whole city seems swept up in the conference. There are COP15 signs everywhere, and a lot of signs for this 'Hopenhagen' series of events to mobilize people. There was a concert the other night that Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke at, and the clips were amazing. He peered out at the crowds from behind a scarf and those famous little glasses, and smiled, 'We don't want to develop the way you have! Helloooooo rich people! We need help! Just a liiiittle sum to do it -- of $150 billion.'
The crowd laughed, but he was basically getting out in the open one of the big reasons the group of developing countries called the G77 apparently walked out today - that they want much much bigger commitments of aid from rich industrialized countries, and much more drastic emissions cuts than we've been willing to sign onto so far.
Someone sent out a press release today pretending to represent the Canadian government, and a couple news outlets like the Wall Street Journal picked it up without realizing it was a hoax. The Ugandan delegation actually responded to the fake release with a huge amount of enthusiasm, because it seemed like Canada was finally willing to make a bold about-face and offer real CO2 emissions cuts (of 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, rather than an insultingly small amount from 2006 levels) and more than $10 billion a year in aid to help developing countries adapt to the effects of climate change. And moreover, the fakesters said Canada was finally accepting the concept of climate debt: that we have a serious debt to pay as major carbon emitters for the damage we're inflicting, especially on countries in the South that are being hit worse and have fewer resources to adapt.
The sad part is that this is exactly the kind of change Canada needs to adopt, and in all likelihood completely unrealistic from our representatives. Environment Minister Jim Prentice, and our entire environmental policy, seem dead set against taking the climate crisis seriously. Last week Prentice said Canada wouldn't be swept up in the 'hype' of Copenhagen. And as Aiden Abrams said (a brilliant guy from Taking It Global I hope to meet tomorrow), we're not only not leading on this issue, it would be a stretch to say we're even following.
But you know what? Change is happening anyway. Bangladeshi climate scientist Saleemul Huq had a great editorial in the Guardian today that gives me a huge amount of hope. Looking at the huge protests on the weekend, he said:
...Now in Copenhagen in December 2009, I believe we have reached a tipping point. I truly believe that Copenhagen will be remembered in years to come, not for what happens on 18 December when world leaders meet here, but for what just happened on 12 December when tens of thousands of people took the streets to call for strong, ambitious action on climate change.I hope he's right. The EU is moving in the right direction. The US is moving forward. More soon.
This marked the day that people from all walks of life all over the world seized the initiative from our so-called leaders. Regardless of the words these presidents and prime ministers decide in a "protocol" or "agreement" next week, it is the people of
the world who have put the writing on the wall. The leaders who choose to read those words will take us forward. Those who ignore them will be swept away by the tide of history.
Saturday marked the point when a large part of the world rose up as one to tackle a truly global challenge. Although there may be temporary setbacks (such as a less-than-ambitious deal next week) the tide has already turned. It cannot be turned back.
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