California youth are heading to Copenhagen to take part in UN Climate Negotiations as part of the global Youth Constituency. This blog is hosted by one of their number and is open to them all. Come read about us and our actions, or let me know if you have something to add!
Today is the last day of the conference. Though there are rumors that the conference may last into the weekend for a binding agreement to be made. This however, is very concerning to me. Obama arrived this morning and gave a speech in the Bella Center around 1:00Pm.
The speech was the same rhetoric that the united States has been using for Climate Change. According to his speech the U.S. will cut down carbon dioxide emissions 17% by 2020 based on the 2005 index. This seems like a great amount, but in reality is very poor. Every other country will be using the 1990 index for cutting carbon dioxide. Only the United States has decided to use 2005 standards. This is concerning because it does not standardize the baseline, and also allows the United States to cut less carbon dioxide then other countries. 15% in 2005 standards is equivalent to less in 1990 levels. Obama delivered a speech that was sub-par. Unfortunately, these cuts will not be enough. According to 350.org the current agreement will skyrocket emissions up to 770 parts per million of CO2, nearly doubling the scientifically proven amount of CO2 acceptable for a habitable Earth. This is surely inadequate for the livelihood of the planet. Obama also talked about the potential 10 billion dollars the U.S. will give less developed countries. This is on the condition that other developed countries also contribute to a pot of money and become "transparent" in their decision making processes.
Hopefully the conference will last into the weekend because an agreement has not been made. We need to cut emissions and standardize the way we account for the CO2 reductions. By the end of the weekend, maybe the politicians from around the world will have miraculously come to a binding, ambitious, and fair agreement.
Due to the expected chaos of yesterday, I did not attend the Bella Center. This proved to be the right decision because of the huge protests and unexpected beatings of innocent protestors. As was mentioned earlier, NGO’s have been completely excluded from the conference. I believe this is because of the very poor planning of the COP15 planning committee. This has ended the amount of time I am able to attend the conference for. For me, this is very disappointing.
Today only 300 NGO representatives were allowed into the event (according to the UN). Myself and none of my fellow members representing the California Student Sustainability Coalition (CSSC) were allowed in. Word on the street was that every NGO was denied today. See the video below to see how empty the center was.
Today Hillary Clinton made an offer for developing countries. The offer sought to “inject new momentum into talks here aimed at reaching a global agreement to control greenhouse gases, backing a proposal to create an international pot of money for developing countries that could be worth more than $100 billion a year by the end of the next decade”. This offer is much higher than the $84 million dollars previously offered by the United States earlier this week. Unfortunately, this amount is still not enough compared to the demands G77 countries have asked for. Although this is a step in the right direction I believe this is still not enough.
A six-page document from the U.N. office leaked today. This document, dated Dec. 15, was a detailed compilation of all the major countries’ pledges and plans for curbing their emissions. A Calculation suggesting that these countries would not hold global temperature ruse under the goal of 2 degrees Celsius that the world leaders have set was also found. This could have potential negative consequences for this event. The event has one more day for meetings. President Barack Obama is supposedly flying in tomorrow for the conference. Hopefully he will be the savior for the climate justice our people and Earth need.
The youth sit-in that was happening right outside the Plenary in the Bella center (where the climate change summit is being held in Copenhagen) just ended with the 20 or so youth remaining being told that they needed to leave or no more NGO participants would be allowed in for the final two days of the conference. The action started at 5 pm with 30 youth form around the world sitting and refusing to leave until their demand for a fair, ambitious, and legally binding agreement was made. They sat and began to read the names of 11 million people who signed a petition demanding a fair ambitious, and legally binding treaty. It is clear to youth and delegates of countries around the world that getting such a treaty is too important to give up on, and accepting pieced together compromise that will not set the world on the course to slow climate change is not an option!
This action was truly international with youth form Canada, Wales, Turkey, France, U.S., Denmark, Australia, Germany, China, Lebanon, England, Ireland, Kenya, and Norway. Youth from around the world know what is at stake and held strong at this action to show the delegates, countries, and world that now is the time to act to save our planet and all of the people on it. Evan as security showed up and asked them to move to the side, the participants held their ground. This resulted in the participants being dragged by security to the side of the room and followed by many taken into custody while onlookers chanted “the whole world is watching”. But Still they did not leave and continued reading off names from the side of the walkway.
The final 19 bold and courageous participants in this demonstration left the Bella center at around 2 am after being told they would be arrested and would cause all other NGO participant admittance to be banned for the last two remaining days of the conference. I applaud them and thank them for taking such a strong stand for the future and safety of our world and ALL the people in it. I ask anyone reading this to plan a solidarity sit-in where ever you are to raise awareness about what is happening here in Copenhagen and to show support for a fair, ambitious, and legally binding treaty to come out of COP-15. Thank you for your support!! Also check out the live blog from the sit-in at:
We arrived at the Bella Center at 6:30am. The lined formed quickly and I was around the 50th person. The registration line opened around 8:00am. Quickly we began to move single file down a long pathway. After 2.5 hours, my group was officially registered for the event.
Once entering the venue, the first room is comprised of NGO (Non-governmental organizations) booths. These booths littered the giant room and consisted of such groups at 350.org, tck.tck.tck, and SustainUS. We all chatted around this area for quite sometime. It was very informative and insightful to listen to other points of view. Many of the booths were handing out free pamphlets or information DVD’s. I even received a guide to climate change handbook (It’s very interesting).
The Bella Center was not what I was expecting! I had the impression there would be more open sessions and civil society participation. This was not the case. Instead, I found NGO’s to be shunned out of meetings and information in general. This was extremely disappointing and discouraging. I found it more helpful to be updated through the New York Times or DemocracyNow.com. I would highly recommend these resources for great up to date information!
My colleagues and I first set off to a “open-ended informal consultation to address issues requiring political guidance”. This was being held in the amazingly beautiful Plenary I (Tycho Brahe).This is the room where all delegates meet to discuss the issues. Unfortunately, this was delayed entirely after waiting for three hours – Very disappointing. Next, the coalition of students participated in an “action” with other youth from around the world. This was particularity fun! The youth lines the halls of the Bella Center, spanning around 300 meters, holding flags from countries. These countries represented the most responsible and climate responsible states of all. This mostly consisted of the G77 countries (Africa + China + India). We stood in the line for 30 minutes in complete silence. During this time photographs and news stations were continuously filming the line of diversified, but united youth. It was very impressive. After the 30 minutes the line quickly broke into normal behavior like nothing had happened. The amount of actions taken during the first day was phenomenal. People, especially youth, consistently had an action happening throughout the entire day. This ranged from dressing up, all the way to singing carols. Later in the day I went to a COP15 President questions session. Connie Hedegaard took questions from the press. As of right now, the conference is not going very well. This was addressed very quickly into the question section. Connie spoke about how the momentum must change when the Head of States arrive on Thursday. Currently, the delegates are acting out of line. She has been very disappointed with the negotiations, but was a strong believer in the promise of an agreement.
A group of youth activists have been working together for the United States within the Bella Center confines. Their goal is to reach “champions” such as Al Gore with letters and other forms of contact. The have been working tediously to put pressure on the United States Senate. Hopefully this will give a great perspective from students currently in Copenhagen.
This was the first day. I hope everything will be much better tomorrow.
Hello from Eva here in Copenhagen!! I just finished my second day- Tuesday Dec. 15th at the conference and the experience so far has been very empowering. I have been meeting with US youth to strategize and take actions to push our nation to make a strong legally binding deal with the rest of the world. This is the second week of the conference and the US as well as other developing nations have not put out any proposals that would set our world on a track to effectively prevent climate change catastrophe. It has been a bit dreary with 7 hours of daylight and temperatures in the low 40’s with snow, but the youth have been standing strong, holding actions throughout the Bella conference center, showing up in high numbers for important meetings and asking questions. As many of you have heard, Tuvalu, a small pacific island state, is calling for aggressive legally binding negotiations that aim for 350 parts per million, the most recent limit scientists have said is a safe for carbon in our atmosphere, $300 billion for climate adaptation, and no more than one degree rise in global average temperature over the next decade. Many youth actions and work in the conference has been in alliance with the Small Pacific Island States and the countries that are most at risk for climate change to show our commitment to a global deal that does not leave anyone out, and in this case, does not condemn certain Countries and peoples to climate disaster and death.
Today COP-15 started restricting the NGO observers by requiring a secondary badge issued to all of the heads of delegations. Our delegation – the California Student Sustainability Coalition, was accredited through Earth Island Institute and was issued 6 secondary badges for 47 students! This restriction was incredibly disappointing and in my opinion reflected badly on the organization of the conference. More than simply a reflection of poor planning and organizing, this massive restriction is banning the civil society from the negotiations. This puts an even bigger strain on the little input and affect that we did have on the negotiations. US youth are continuing to organize and take actions outside of the conference and have secured a new meeting space outside of the Bella center since we no longer can hold our US youth or YOUNGO (coordinator of youth NGOs) meetings inside the center.
Youth have already begun to organize outside actions to assure that our presence is not lost. Tomorrow thousands will march in three different groups to the Bella center. One of the groups will attempt to enter the center and their arrival at the center will be met with an NGO and Delegate walkout from the conference itself. Hopefully the March stays peaceful and demonstrates the need to have our voices heard in these crucial negotiations that will determine all of out future.
Everyone seems to feel that the negotiations are going badly, especially with the G77 walk-out planned for today. This is why I'm hopeful:
Press Briefing by Todd Stern Special Envoy for Climate Change and Head of the United States Delegation UN Climate Change Negotiations, Copenhagen, Denmark December 15, 2009 I wanted – just before we get into questions, I thought I might take a minute to make a few comments about the U.S. mitigation commitment. The – I frequently talk about or am asked about issues of comparabilities between the U.S. and other developed countries. And I frequently say that our numbers are quite comparable by any number of measures. But I thought I would actually treat you today to a few of the numbers for a minute that I think actually do make that point. And I would say that it’s – it’s only in the hermetically-sealed world of global climate change negotiations that a baseline year of 1990 to measure the reduction of emissions from now to 2020 would be treated as sacrosanct.
So, let me just start with – for a second again with what our number is. We have put in a proposal of a reduction that’s around 17% below 2005 levels in 2020. And with those numbers ramping up rapidly to about 30% below 2005 by 2025 and 42% by 2030. And even compared to 1990, by the way, those numbers in 2025 and 2030 would be 18% and 33%. By that measure – but only by that measure – the U.S. is substantially – the U.S. reduction is substantially less than the EU, for example. And by the way, I have nothing but respect for what the EU has done and continues to do on climate change, so this is in no sense a criticism of the EU. It’s just an explanation of what the U.S. is doing. So if you compare our reduction levels against the 2005 – obviously more recent number and one that’s more relevant to what President Obama could do, coming into office – the U.S. 17% stacks up against a reduction by the EU of about 13%. This is based on an EU 20% reduction against 1990. That’s sort of a basic number right now. So if you translated that to 2005, there would be about a 13% reduction, so less than what the U.S. is putting down.
If you look at a second measure, which is our reduction from where we are now, compared to business as usual, the U.S. offers a 17% reduction and the EU’s about 12%. Japan and Australia would be, I think, 10% for Japan and 20% for Australia. Per capita reduction, – even against 1990, the U.S. proposal would be a 29% reduction, the EU a 25% reduction.
The carbon intensity – that’s a number that China’s using, by the way, in its own numbers – the carbon intensity for the U.S. is a number that’s just about exactly in line with the carbon intensity reduction for the EU and other developed countries.
And then lastly, if you look at the change in atmospheric concentrations, the U.S. offer would reduce atmospheric concentrations by about three times more than those put forward by other Annex 1 countries, even if you equalize or account for the different starting points, in terms of who had larger emissions to begin with.
So, in five out of six – by five out of six measures, the U.S. is equal to or higher than the EU or many of our other developed country partners. So again, no criticism meant on them. But I have fielded questions all year long from many of my counterparts about why isn’t the U.S. doing more, and as I say, the U.S. is doing a lot. The only measure by which it looks like the U.S. isn’t doing as much is 1990.
So anyway, just thought I would brighten your day with a few statistics. And then I’m happy to take questions.
...
QUESTION: My question is, even if you say the U.S. proposed reduction pledge for 2020 is very comparable – by a lot of measures, more ambitious than other Annex 1 proposals – how do you reconcile it with scientists’ recommendations, who say that developed countries need to reduce emission by 25 to 40 %, relative to 1990? And this is a 3% reduction. Thanks.
MR. STERN: Thanks very much. I actually absolutely can reconcile it, and here’s the reason. I think that the 25 to 40 % reduction below 1990 was included in what has become a kind of iconic chart in the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC, the scientific body. And that sets forth a good pathway for essentially holding emissions to around 450 parts per million, which is designed to give us a decent chance of holding temperature increases to 2 degrees above preindustrial. It’s not the only pathway, at all. There are a whole lot of other pathways that can get you there. We have – our proposal and the legislation that’s pending in Congress would take us, decade by decade – about 20% every decade – to an 80% reduction. Actually, 80% below 1990, 83% below 2005 -- which would be right on target with what we would need to do. There is all kinds of scientific work that - the President’s science advisor, John Holdren is actually here; I’m sure [he] would be happy to talk to you about this in Copenhagen - has laid out a whole set of other pathways that can get you where you need to go. The difference – just so you can sort of again have the frame in mind – the difference between the pathway that the U.S. has charted and the pathway that would involve starting at that 25 to 40 % below 1990 – the difference between that and what we’re doing is about 1 part per million in 2050. So I think that we’re on a very good path.
Today, Sunday the 13th was particularity interesting. The Bella Center (Place holding the conference) was completely closed to everyone. Not a single soul was allowed into the building. Myself and two other CA delegates that arrived on Saturday took the awesome metro to the Bella Center in the morning. Just as rumors had suggested, the Bella Center was closed. We stuck around for 20 minutes taking pictures of the area. There is a water feature beneath the metro that is very interesting. It is a large square basin with statues of Island nation citizens standing in knee-deep water. The significance is the rising sea levels due to climate change. This water feature was very insightful. Additionally, I found out that there are red lights attached to streetlights all over Copenhagen giving people the idea of rising sea level heights. It’s very well done.
After the Bella Center we ventured and ate lunch. Following this, we attended a conference called “Bright Green”. This conference was in central Copenhagen. It was a business-oriented forum consisting of booths, lectures, and sessions. The booths ranged from alternative fuel companies all the way to construction companies. The booths were all very nicely displayed and were very interesting.
We met with several other people for a lecture by the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu. The lecture was about the United States involvement with alternative energy. Though interesting, it was pretty disappointing. Chu is not a very good speaker, and talked mostly about alternative energy technologies rather than polices for implementation. It was like a standard lecture at a university. Following Chu was the Chair of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), Rajendra K. Pachauri. This was amazing! I have seen him on many videos from lectures at Cal Poly! He spoke about how we need to act now, and how COP15 is extremely important for human civilization to survive. It was very interesting, but short (Luckily I am going to another lecture of his Tuesday!). I was very impressed by this man.
Bright Green ended shortly after Pachauri’s speech. We gathered up all the information brochures we obtained and headed on out. It was snowing when we got outside. I have not seen it snow in so long! Following this we needed to move our belongings to another apartment. This ended the day.
The first day was very interesting. I started by getting locked out of the apartment 4 hours before I actually moved in! But besides that, everything has been great! Simply put, Copenhagen is an amazing city. The city is absolutely beautiful and very interesting. Upon arrival the image of a well-structured and managed city was noticeable. The infrastructure was particularity noteworthy because of the use of public transportation. Few, if any, cars were on the road. Quickly, I noticed bicycles rule the city!
I took the train from the Copenhagen airport to Central Station. I have never seen anything like this station in my entire life. It’s simply massive! It is also beautiful. I took a taxi to where I would be staying. Unfortunately, no one was home to let me in.
Four hours later…
Finally let in! But not after exploring the city by myself. Once again, I noticed the dependence on bike and walking. Why can’t U.S. cities be like this? Well, I know the answer. But really… C’mon America! Urban sprawl has ruined U.S. cities! This is not to bash our U.S. city planners. While exploring Copenhagen I gained some knowledge about the cultural norms. First, the people are absolutely some of the nicest citizens I have ever met. One other CSSC delegate was handed 400 krones (1 U.S. dollar is approximately 5 Krones) for free! She was almost in tears from being lost, but a nice Samaritan from Copenhagen generously helped her out. This is truly a unique act of kindness. Second, the citizens of Copenhagen like live in small communities of people within the city. Each building has a courtyard that is connected by many apartments. This allows the people to socialize and be active outdoors! The people are continuously outside of their houses. Even in 30-degree weather. Last, the Dutch are obsessed with their hotdogs! They are extremely delicious.
The sun quickly set around 5PM. I met with other CSSC delegates soon after. We roamed the streets of Copenhagen (or Hopenhagen as most people are calling it). Central to the city is Copenhagen Plaza. For COP15 there is a large globe in the center with projections constantly reading “Hopenhagen”. The area is completely lit green and has a stage in the front. There are musicians constantly playing on this stage. This area looks similar to the picture above. I will have actual pictures when I get back home.
Overall, my stay in Copenhagen has been great so far. I look forward to attending the conference for the first time tomorrow morning.
I am currently 37,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean, just south of Greenland.This is my first trip to Denmark, and it will surely be a monumental occasion for both the World and myself.My name is Michael Symmes, and I was recently selected and generously given a donation for traveling to Copenhagen for the Conference of the Parties, COP15. I cam currently a California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), San Luis Obispo student, majoring in Environmental Management and Protection. Recently, an Atascadero 350.org group, headed by Fred Frank and Ray Weymann, selected me for participating in this wonderful endeavor. I will commit my best effort for fulfilling obligations I agreed to when accepting this donation.
The conference of the Parties, COP15, represents a crucial time for society to correct current policies and political ideals related to global Climate Change. Scientists agree on a safe cap for emissions, while policymakers are stuck in the debating process. COP15 provides a small opportunity of time for policymakers to address the conservation of our beloved planet.With the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol nearing, another adopted global policy must be created.
Having the opportunity to witness COP15 first-hand will be quite the experience! I have been working hard as the Executive Intern for the California Student Sustainability Coalition to send California youth to Copenhagen, Denmark. Through the Earth Island Institute, students from around California will have the opportunity to witness the conference from inside. Chosen applicants have been officially credentialed and allowed in for the occasion of a lifetime!
My ambitions are very straightforward. I want to represent the California youths voice in these negotiations. Climate Change is a challenge for my generation and the resulting generations to come. Policymakers must recognize the opportunity for change. Attending this conference will not only allow my individual voice to be heard, but also reflect the strong feelings of my generation. I intend to be an avid observer, gather the most up to date information, and to interact with our world leaders. Furthermore, I would like to spread this knowledge throughout college campuses and communities across California. Knowledge is power, and the spread of knowledge leads to change.
The hurdle for passing a Climate Change policy is about to approach. Pressure for the United States and other countries to implement sustainable policies have been blooming over the past months. 350.org rallies, Power shift West, and tck.tck.tck have all made efforts to create political momentum. COP15 is the tipping point for our global struggle, and will hopefully bring the change necessary for a sustainable future. Witnessing this conference will be a tremendous honor.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Santa Cruz Youth call for a Strong Legal Deal at COP-15
The University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) student delegation to COP-15 is making daily hand deliveries to the US negotiators of postcards, signed by California youth, asking for a Fair, Ambitious, and Binding Copenhagen Treaty. “We know the US delegation is working hard and can only do so much,” says Jennifer Helfrich of the delegation, “The postcards are not to convince them, they know the issue. The postcards are a way for us to interact with them on a daily basis and to bring attention to the role of both the US and of youth in the negotiations.” The UCSC delegation, in solidarity with the international youth climate movement, wishes to highlight that the world’s youth will bear the brunt of Climate Change. As those who will be dealing with the outcome of the Negotiations for decades to come, UCSC delegates see the youth stance as deserving of emphasis in Copenhagen.
The UCSC delegation is working with 500 other US youth and hundreds more international youth at COP-15 to remind delegates, and attendees that they are negotiating on behalf of future generations, not present economic interests. These youth are constantly collaborating to make their voice heard at the conference and to raise awareness globally. This includes demonstrations inside and outside of COP-15 as well as coordination with youth back home. In the conference proper the 500 US Youth are creating a presence in US presentations, whether debriefs or speeches, by outnumbering other attendees and raising pointed questions. Youth of the US are also in the midst of preparations for interacting with US congressional appearances during the last week of the conference.
The UCSC delegation consists of 5 students; Jennifer Helfrich, Eva Stevens, Darlene Khalafi, Vince Celli and Joshua Cowan. These students whose majors range from environmental studies to anthropology have come together to make their voice heard and represent California Youth at COP-15. These young delegates are in Copenhagen to support the goals of the US Youth Statement to “aim for a sustainable future to lessen the impact of our greenhouse gas emissions nationally and globally… and to demand stricter laws and enforcement at the national and international level,”. As Joshua Cowan put it “We are not here just for CA Youth, or even international Youth. We are here for the youth of today and tomorrow. We want to be able to tell our grandchildren that when these decisions were made we acted with them in our hearts! ”. The UCSC delegation hopes that the daily delivery of their postcards and their support of the Youth Movement at Copenhagen will help the nations of the world “Seal the Deal”.
I am a second year Environmental Studies/ Biology major who is part of the youth environmental movement happening across the globe. I am currently involved with the Sierra Student Coalition, UC Santa Cruz's Student Environmental Center, and Stevenson Colleges Path to a Greener Stevenson. During my involvement with several non-profit groups and student organizations on campus, my experiences have shown me that the road to environmental responsibility and sustainability will not be an easy nor simple one. From the COP15, like many youth, I look forward to a FAB deal (Fair, Binding and Amibitious). As part of a larger working group of US Youth to COP15, I will be working on actions to take place in order to influence the decisions of policy makers here in Copenhagen.
However, I feel that making progress in Copenhagen will be challenging. Opposing viewpoints from many administrations about what kind of steps are necessary in order to maintain a safe climate condition will make delegation tough. Also, since the early days of the climate change convention, NGOs have been actively involved, attending sessions and exchanging views with other participants, including delegates. It is recognized that this involvement allows vital experience, expertise, information and perspectives from civil society to be brought into the process to generate new insights and approaches. Furthermore, the access and participation of observers to the process promotes transparency in this increasingly complex universal problem. From my first hand experience in this process I hope to learn all I can about local, national, and international policy as well as how governing bodies work to mediate the needs of several groups of people to ensure proper outcomes.
Through a partnership with the California Students for Sustainability Coalition (CSSC), was one of few who were recently selected to participate in an opportunity of a lifetime to participate in the COP15 with credentialing though a non-governmental organization (NGO), the Earth Island Institute. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is holding a conference (COP15) this December. The COP15 is a critical juncture and the pinnacle of resolving modern society’s environmental dispute. Global leaders and concerned citizens of the world alike will converge in Copenhagen, Denmark for a historic discussion. With this opportunity, students from this campus will be able to influence history in the making. As a part of our Climate Action Campaign, we will be recruiting students at our teach-ins and tabling sessions to sign postcards and take picture messages expressing what kinds of results they would like to see coming out of Copenhagen. We will hand deliver these to UN delegates at the COP15 and work diligently to represent youth at the conference.
I will be posting live updates from Copenhagen through my facebook including press releases, links to other blogs, newsources' articles, photos, and videography. See them here at:
We're at the US Center here at the Conference to attend a presentation by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on renewable energy projects on US public lands.
Secretary Salazar spoke on behalf of Obama about the US plan to meet the challenges Climate Change presents. He spoke of how US public lands and heritage sites will be affected by Climate Change, citing examples like the loss of glaciers in Montana's Glacier Park by 2020. He reviewed the massive solar, geothermal and wind potential in the US, wind potential alone off the coast of eastern US is about 1000 GW. The Secretary spoke of his department granting the first ever exploratory rights for wind energy off our nation's coasts and of setting up renewable energy coordinating offices in Western states. The Department of the interior has also set aside 1000 square miles to be evaluated for solar potential. By the end of next year they hope to have 5300 MW of renewable energy, most from solar, underway(the power of over 15 coal fired power plants). Secretary Salazar emphasized his departments efforts to "clear out red tape" for creation of smart-grid style transmission lines and the fast-tracking of 1000 new miles of transmission projects to be underway by 2010. This is all excellent news and paints a glowing picture of US Department of the Interior's renewable energy efforts.
Unfortunately Secretary Salazar then went on to speak of moving forward with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) on public lands. Considering the renewable energy potential in the US, and the still fledgling status of the renewable energy industry I am highly supportive of the Dept. of the Interior spending time and money on renewable energy projects throughout US public lands. I understand that CCS can be an important part of the solution and I hope for the actual realization of the current oxy-moron of "Clean Coal". But I fail to see how it is appropriate to spend federal funds on research and development of CCS. It should the obligation of the fossil fuel industry to fund such research and exploration - not Secretary Salazar or other branches of the federal government. Their time and funds should go into helping struggling industries, carbon intensive industries should use their own profits from their historic exploitation of fossil fuels to mitigate their own pollution.
The US youth showed up in force to this presentation, there was maybe 20 of us in a room that holds 50. We came to ask Secretary Salazar how his department is engaging in the legislative process to ensure that a bold, science-based energy policy passes through the US Senate. His answer was somewhat disappointing - no specifics, just a broad statement about how they have been trying and will continue to try.
Meg Boyle on US youth after the State Department briefing last night:
"Just wanted to relay my congrats to the US youth delegation, which asked several smart, strategic, focused and well-crafted questions last night--reflecting real policy know-how--and never lost their sense of humor while doing it."
There's a rumor that France might commit to making it's emission reductions 100% domestic. This means they would use ZERO offsets to reach their reductions target. If this is true (yet to be condoned by Sarkozy) this would make France the first industrialized country to announce such a commendable goal and as such would represent a big step forward. Let's wait and see what Sarkozy has to say . . .
In an historic new award, NGOs from around the world united in voting Tuvalu the first ever winner of Ray of the Day — to be given on rare occasions for actions to substantially advance progress in global climate talks. The tiny Pacific island nation was celebrated today for its bold proposal to discuss a legal outcome from the Copenhagen summit. Along with other small islands Tuvalu will be one of the first victims of rising seas as warmer temperatures melt glaciers and expand oceans.
Russia continues to be a wet blanket at the climate talks. They're an absolute "no" on the Kyoto Protocol and they're pushing for a single outcome. Russia ratified the Kyoto Protocol - but it took 9 years and they got a sweet deal: a lot of money in the form of emissions allowances and permission to continue polluting. The Kyoto Protocol needed Russia as the third largest emitter (behind the U.S. and China) , but now Russia wants the to put the Protocol in the rubbish bin.
The problem with a single outcome is this ditching of the Kyoto Protocol. Whichwouldn't be such a bad a idea if there was a desirable alternative. Yet, right now, the Kyoto Protocol is the best working document we've got - the negotiations have not produced anything better. NGO's worry that Russia will try to block a two-track solution or an agreement with both an amendment to the Kyoto Protocol and a new Copenhagen Agreement (this would also include a set of decisions by the supreme body of the Convention and its Protocols).
Russia also has a history of murmurings on climate skepticism. In october, Mikhail Zelikhanov, the head of the nation's delegation, claimed that Russsia's top scientists have yet to agree on the cause of global warming, or whether the phenomenon even exists.
All the while, Russia's trying to make itself look good. I spoke to an employee of German Watch who told me that Russia is claiming it will retire it's billions of dollars in leftover emissions credits. Acting like their doing the world a huge favor. But my friend in German Watch highly doubts that they'll actually do so, and that they're only saying so to try and drum up some good press in the face of their lack of effort in the negotiations.
Yesterday the talks were disrupted by a document known as the "Danish Text", supposedly authored by the US, Denmark, and the UK (maybe more...?). The document is a draft framework which would be super-imposed over the current UN negotiations. The text outlines a number of precepts that are fundamentally against many of the basics of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto protocol including:
-Requiring developing nations to make emissions reductions (as of right now developing nations can make optional reductions, only developed countries must meet requirements) -Allowing rich nations double the per-capita emissions of poor nations -Side-lining the UN's role in the negotiations -Taking management of finance out of UN hands and putting it in the hands of the World Bank (a bad, bad move.)
The text also mentions $10 billion in financing - which means that developed nations must commit to providing $10 billion annually (between them) to developing nations to help the develop in a low emissions manner as well as for adaptation and insurance efforts.
The document OUTRAGED delegates of developing nations - especially Africa, take a look at the video below. I'm not sure what will happen with the Danish Text. Supposedly it will be presented to world leaders (or rich leaders) sometime next week. I'm hoping that the early leakage of the document will destroy its viability. If implemented the Danish text would be a huge, huge step backwards. The UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol were written in a way that attempts to account for historical inequities in emissions and differing capacities for mitigation and adaptation. Rich and developed nations have a much higher capacity and they have emitted far, far more GHGs over the decades than developing and poorer nations. Any global effort to address climate change that intends to be effective and fair must take these facts into account.
I arrived at the Bella Center at 11:45am as registration for NGOs did not begin until 12pm. The line was incredibly long and amazingly diverse. It took four hours from getting in the queue till I finally entered the conference proper.
While in line I met a woman who works with the Sea Change foundation - a foundation that funds the Global Campaign for Climate Action (GCCA), which was one of the funders of the Avaaz Action Factory I spent three months working with in Berlin. (Websites: GCCA, http://gc-ca.org/ ; Action Factory, http://www.actionfactories.org/ ).
I also met a man who'd traveled from inner Brazil to represent indigenous people of the Amazon. He had on a ski jacket and gloves - but his legs were bare and his gnarly feet were in hand made sandals.
I met two Berliners who run an organization that works on climate an energy initiatives. The "Super Smart Grid" and climate through music - producing low-carbon music show and using the music industry as a platform to reach people about climate change issues.
I met a reporter from New York who works with an anarchist newspaper and a group of international students. There some folks from the UC system and a woman from Singapore making a documentary about deforestation and climate change, another woman from the Andes of Peru, dressed in traditional garb.
When I finally made it inside I spent some time getting my bearings and exploring the whole center. I had many a happy reunion with climate activists and delegates that I haven't seen in months. The center is huge and confusing, with two main plenary floors, warehouses of booths, cafes, kitchens, sitting areas, computer areas, printing areas, skype areas, phone sections, presentation rooms, meeting rooms, delegate offices, massive installations, resting areas for different sections of the global community . . . overwhelming.
I spent some time figuring out how to deliver our US youth postcards to the US delegation. I spoke to security about placing materials on delegation tables of the plenary floor - a no go. I went to the US outreach center and spoke to three different people and was finally directed to the delegation office. Found the office - after getting lost in C6 or C5 or whatever they are: space agey temporary buildings to house the offices of all the delegations. I knocked on the door and spoke with an intern who told me how to ask for interview with the delegation - but didn't know about deliveries. Darlene (of the UCSC delegation) will try later today to take some postcards directly to the office.
I listened in on the Plenary for a while and then went to see the Fossil of the Day awards. I'll explain both of these and some of the politics of the negotiations in the next post.
In the evening the Copenhagen Mayor hosted a reception for COP-15 attendees at the town hall. Finger food and free wine - always a good idea. I mingled with other youth, NGO, and national delegates. Withing two hours everyone was feeling a little silly - and I learned some interesting things. . . . which I will have to post later as my battery is about to die.
My name is Eva Stevens, and I am one of the students representing the University of California Santa Cruz Youth Climate Delegation at the international climate conference in Copenhagen. I am a fourth year Environmental Studies and Art major at UCSC. I have been working with the student sustainability movement on campus since my freshmen year first teaching a class on climate change and going on to starting a student directed seminar on the community and culture of the bicycle and sustainable transportation. I have worked with the Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP) for most of my college career and am now the Chancellor's Undergraduate Intern for ESLP. ESLP is a program that puts on a student taught student organized class, and was brought to our campus by the California Student Sustainability Coalition (CSSC). The CSSC is who accredited our delegation as well as student from all over California. I decided to go to Copenhagen with the UCSC Youth Climate Delegation because I see the need for youth to be represented at this monumental event to push the leaders of our country and our world to take aggressive action to combat climate change. I also see the importance in gaining understanding of how the process of international negotiations work and bringing this information as well as the outcomes of the conference and the next steps that youth can take to fight for climate action back to my university and community. When in Copenhagen I will be working on media and assisting with researching policy positions. I also plan to incorporate what we do at COP-15 and the outcomes of the conference into one of the ESLP lectures to inform students on what is happening with climate policy on a global scale and to further inspire climate action on our campus. I feel very privileged to be representing UCSC and American youth at COP-15 in Copenhagen and would like to thank all the people within the university as well as my family and friends who help make this trip possible for me.
I landed yesterday around 2pm Copenhagen time after 16 hours in transit. And it's freezing. I'm typing in long-johns and a down jacket - while one of my hosts is in a t-shirt. He says, "Cold? Welcome to Denmark." I'm staying at the home of Jon (pronounced Yon), Markus, and Kirsten - three young Danish students kind enough to host a California COP-15 attendee. Jon will be working at COP-15 as a technician. He told me that, including the employees, COP-15 will be about 33,000 people. He guesses that half as many as that will be un-accredited but in Copenhagen. Meaning that Copenhagen has to deal with an influx of about 50,000 people for two weeks. Crazy.
Today is (and yesterday was) COY, the Conference of Youth. (http://youthclimate.org/projects-and-actions/coy/). The goal of COY is "To build trust and solidarity among youth who will be attending COP15, and to share ideas, thoughts, successes and skills with each other. To build a truly global movement to stop the climate crisis." I'll try and make it there this afternoon. There's a number of logistical things I'd like to work out before the conference proper begins. I have feeling things will get hectic starting tomorrow.
On the flight over I met a number of other people who will be representing NGOs at Copenhagen. I hope to connect with some of them here and see how the UCSC delegation in particular and the CA delegation at large can coordinate with them.
Greetings friends, family, and interested citizens!
I hope everyone had a fabulous Turkey Day and is looking forward to the rest of the holiday season.I do love holidays.This year I have a particular holiday wish I’d like to present to you.
As many of you know, this December will see me traveling to Copenhagen, Denmark to participate in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 15th Conference of the Parties, or COP-15.I have been a sustainability advocate for my entire university career and began to focus on climate change issues this past summer.Some of you may have followed my summer climate activism efforts as part of the Europe Climate Action Factory.As part of my time in Europe as a Youth Climate Fellow I attended some UN pre-sessions for COP-15 – attendance that not only sparked my interest but highlighted the need for youth involvement in the UNFCCC.
Youth are now a recognized constituency at UNFCCC events, joining environmental non-profits, businesses, and research institutions.This gives international youth a voice, a way to formally interact with negotiations that will be deciding our future.As a constituent I am outraged by the crippled pace of the negotiations and the utter lameness of proposed emission reductions.I want the UNFCCC member nations to know how I feel, especially the US.In speaking to my fellow youth constituents I found my peers to be just as affronted by the “progress” of the negotiations.In response to this I’m working with a core team of UC Santa Cruz students to run an outreach campaign on campus.This campaign culminates with the hand delivery of hundreds of postcards from California youth to the US delegation at COP-15.That’s right, I’m bringing my UCSC team to Copenhagen and we’re geared up to give our national delegation a hard time.
In addition to this I’m helping the entire California Student Delegation, of which the UCSC team will be part.I’ll be spending sleepless nights in Copenhagen organizing meetings with delegates, protests and marches, political actions, and media stunts.I’ll be writing press releases and policy recommendations, creating multimedia projects with political intent.I’ll be coordinating with international environmental and social justice non-profits, business coalitions, and the delegates of poor and underrepresented nations.I’ll be training my peers as youth climate activists and I will be learning a myriad of new skills along the way.My peers and I will all work tirelessly to ensure that COP-15 results in a bold, just, and equitable global climate deal which ensures the survival of all peoples.
Now for my holiday wish.The total cost for me to attend COP-15 is about $2,500.This is way out of my budget, even with the help of my University and sponsoring non-profits.I cannot afford this opportunity without your generosity.You will be funding my work at Copenhagen as I fight for my future and for the lives of those most in danger from climate change.
I thank you for anything and everything from the bottom of my heart.
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