All posts in COP15

By J. Taj Schottland

The youth have been broadcasting a couple core messages here in Copenhagen. I’d like to catch you up on what those messages have been and what they mean.

My favorite youth message comes in the form of a question. “How old will you be in 2050?” The youth have posed this question repeatedly to anyone who will listen, especially the media and high-level negotiating officials. The question has even permeated the depths of the UNFCCC bureaucratic process, as was evident when Michael Zammit Cutajar, who chairs talks on long-term action, walked into our youth briefing wearing a bright blue t-shirt with this slogan printed on it. But what is this question meant to accomplish? It is meant raise awareness that COP 15 negotiators, and the politicians they represent, won’t be around in 2050 to witness the climate disaster they helped sow. But the youth of today will be there. We will pay a dear price for the current inactions of world governments. For this reason we need significant emission reduction targets for the near future, not just distant 2050 targets.

Richard van Kampen (left), Noah Hodgetts (center) and Taj Schottland (right) at December 12 demonstration in Copenhagen.

I’d also like to interpret this question in another way. Yes it is true, the negotiators can’t be held accountable in 2050, but there will be people who can and will be held accountable. That’s us. Yep, the youth at COP 15 will be held responsible for what happens. The future generations will look back and judge us. They will know there were thousands of us here. They will know we had the capability of making real change. But will they look back and see that we stepped up and flexed our muscles? Or will they see we did a half-hearted job? We have to pull out all the stops and do whatever is necessary to make our voice heard. The stakes are too high for failure, and the youth are the best chance—perhaps the only chance—for bringing about a good outcome in Copenhagen.

Our second slogan is “survival is not negotiable.” People often loose sight that we are negotiating our survival. When countries negotiate finance, technology transfer and other policy “wonky” subjects, what they are actually negotiating is our survival. Is that really something we are willing compromise on? It’s as simple as that. Countries have lost sight of the big picture. Everyone has the right to life, as recognized by simple moral imperatives and by countless international human rights declarations and treaties. We understand that climate change, if left unchecked, will cause innumerable human deaths. We must stop bickering, stop negotiating our survival, and address the issue as if our lives depended on it. Because they do.

Danish newspaper humor on the COP: How many delegates does it take to install a light bulb?

The answer is here: http://blog.politiken.dk/ytournel/2009/12/10/cop15-pa-15-sekunder-dag-4/ and translates to:

12 to discuss which direction the light bulb should be turned
157 to insist on having the light bulb produced in their home country
13 to oppose the installation of the light bulb
19 to question the very existence of the lamp
38 to discuss whether to use an energy saving light bulb
1 immigrant to do the dirty work.

By Noah Hodgetts

My apologies for going a week without blogging – my laptop crashed at the conference on Tuesday, so my access to internet has been limited.

On Wednesday four members of our delegation: Rich, Taj, Ken, and myself had the privilege of visiting Samso, Soren Hermanson’s carbon negative island – a two-hour train ride and almost two-hour ferry ride west from Copenhagen. Although it was an exhausting four-hour journey each way, having the chance to see Samso in person was an awesome experience. Samso, unlike Mount Desert Island is accessible to land only by boat, but has a similar year round population of around 4,000 and is just slightly smaller than MDI.

Samso was able to become carbon negative in only 10 years partly because of Denmark’s Feed In Tariff which allows producers of wind energy to sell extra power back into the system for a profit. Soren’s efforts to make Samso the first carbon neutral and now negative island in Denmark had the benefit of only having to rally one municipality, rather than the four municipalities of Mount Desert Island – plus the National Park Service. All five entities would need to sign on to any effort to make MDI carbon neutral. Samso also had the benefit of receiving state funding, since the island won a Danish renewable energy competition.

Denmark maybe years ahead of the United States in mitigating climate change with its 6,000 plus wind turbines and 97% district heating throughout the country, but we share similar challenges and can learn several lessons from Samso. Most important is that we engage the community and stakeholders from all areas and make sure they are on board before proceeding with such an ambitious plan. Number two is that we need to emphasize that smaller is better in reducing energy consumption and transitioning to carbon neutrality. Number three is that it is possible to become carbon neutral/negative without reducing emissions from all sectors. Samso has offset island vehicular transport emissions from the surplus renewable energy produced by its 10 2.3 Mw offshore wind turbines (pictures coming soon).

Seeing Samso’s efforts first-hand has given me hope for trying to make Mount Desert Island carbon neutral and eventually carbon negative in the coming years!

I will be posting pictures from our visit to Samso in the coming hours. Check back soon.

Geena Berry '10 at the march in Copenhagen

By Geena Berry

Orange at work
I’m hiding in a plenary room. Mostly so I can have the mental and physical space to write this out, plus the computer lab is not conducive for  munching on the pack of trail mix I’m enjoying for lunch. It’s already been a long day, and it is not even noon.  I attended my first YOUNGO meeting this morning. The YOUth NGOs, is what the UNFCCC recognize. Anyway, I went to the meeting this morning to support an Australian youth who presented a draft of the youth declaration we have been working on since Sunday. I had some expectation there would be a couple of comments (comments meaning heated debate and argument) about the one pager we proposed, but we didn’t even get there. The process that is currently established does not allow for the spokes council to deal with such matters. For clarification, the spokes council is made of spokes that are representing all the groups or organizations. Generally, knowing that we only have an hour a day together, not reading through full documents would be appropriate. However, when you are presenting a document that represents all of YOUNGO, and in turn loosely the youth of the entire world, one would hope our declaration would be representative. Talking about it would have been nice. Instead the declaration got pushed to the side, and with the help of the policy group. Well, the work got done, but maybe without the best representation there could have been.

Orange in action
I sometimes get lost in the amount of actions that happen in one day among the youth. There are too many emails, some don’t send emails, they happen during 15 other events, there are 15 other actions going on, etc. Yet, either way I appreciate what seems like random noises echoing down the halls until you realize it is a scant, dance and important message that brings attention to the youth and all of our futures that are at stake.  It’s helpful to draw attention to ourselves and all the other important things we have written, our policies, statements and declarations; these documents give us credit, the actions give us weight. Our weight, drive and pushing the envelope is what makes us so effective.

Orange in number
Today is Youth Day at the UNFCCC. My title, The color orange is beautiful, is a reflection on the BRIGHT ORANGE shirts and scarves we are all wearing today (some creative COA kids also have head bands!). Our shirts say “How old will you be in 2050?” and “Don’t bracket our future”. Both messages draw attention to our future, which negotiators won’t be around for. Orange clothing makes us visible. Walking down the halls, sitting in plenary, the orange is everywhere. Most importantly, it is not just the youth that are seen with the color on, it is also the others in the conference center that support us; other NGOs and governments. Government representatives with orange on, it’s a beautiful sight.