THE DELEGATES HAVE ARRIVED!
The long-awaited United Nations climate conference--the COP-15--has begun. It will run December 7th - 18th in Copenhagen, Denmark. Visit the blog for daily updates on everything from treaty-building progress to the youth activist scene.
We're cross-posting to our class blog, Cornfields to Copenhagen.
The U.S. has a large area specifically designated for members of the U.S. state department to give presentations on American energy/climate change policies. Yesterday EPA administrator Lisa Jackson presented, and later this week Steven Chu will also give a talk. Today the U.S. Secretary of Interior, Ken Salazar was the featured speaker. During the Q and A session he was asked a poignant question about the continued use of coal in Appalachia vs. green jobs. Lauralee Crain, a student from Transylvania University in Kentucky and part of the Sierra Student Coalition describes his response below:
I stole an apple from the United Nations and smelled the worst breath ever in a day of sensations sweet and sour.
Right around lunchtime I headed towards an event across the Bella Centre, weaving in and out of suited delegates in a hallway. My stomach was growling. All of a sudden an apple cart appeared.
Note the exchange of Danish currency for an apple. On Wednesday I fell unwitting victim to the small text on the price tag.
“Oo, apples!” I said, and dodged to the left to pick one up. Taylor and Anthony walked slightly ahead.
I zeroed in on a juicy-looking specimen, barely slowed down, and grabbed it.
Maybe two seconds later I heard, “Excuse me sir! It’s not free!”
Great. I could hear Taylor and Anthony laughing.
I immediately turned back, deeply embarrassed, and paid my 5 DKK (about $1). The apple suddenly seemed smaller. The red and yellow patches turned from festive to disconcerting.
But it was sweet, and I steadily chomped away my shame.
Later in the afternoon, the appley flavor long gone, I embarked on one of many haphazard searches for an electrical outlet. I found a single empty seat and plug between two people at the edge of a sea of tables with circuit breakers.
A view down the table at a computer center on Wednesday in the Bella Centre.
After a few minutes the man sitting next to me leaned across the table to speak to a colleague.
When he opened his mouth, the odor was penetrating. Immobilizing. I stopped typing and shook my ever so slightly in disbelief.
It had to be me. I turned away and cupped my hand in front of my mouth (this never really works for me, but I felt compelled to check). I couldn’t smell anything.
Once the rancid, invisible cloud passed I got back to work. After the two or three breath blasts I got over my surprise, and the man moved on soon afterwards.
The sour halitosis fell into the general category of inconveniences I could do without: A 30-minute wait in line for cell phones. A trip to a briefing room for a press conference that never happened.
But these are the little realities, both exciting and frustrating, that fill in the gaps between major meetings at COP15.
Day 1: Taylor observes the line of unaccredited participants
No treaties yet–actually, we’re not even close–but the COP-15 is already setting records. Never before have so many heads of state agreed to attend the talks. We’re hearing that over 130 heads of government will arrive before the end of next week. 130 out of 192 countries recognized by the UN. It’s unprecedented. Reputations are on the line. With this momentum, we’ll either get a serious deal or serious spin to make it look like a good deal. Any outcome will make history, so participants here are working overtime to get realize their visions.
Obama arrives in Copenhagen before the decorations are ready. Printed in the Politiken (Danish Newspaper).
A group of environmental NGOS have started a “Win it in Oslo. Earn it in Copenhagen” campaign for President Obama, who will receive his Nobel Peace Prize just a few hours north of us tomorrow in Oslo. Obama originally planned to attend the talks just after his Nobel ceremony on the 10th, but later announced he would come on the 17th and 18th when other world leaders are attending to finalize a deal.
Unfortunately for us, heads of government mean super-tight security. Rumors are floating that once the big-shots arrive, Big Bella may close to non-government parties. No doubt this would mean crowds of activists and other frustrated non-governmental attendees outside the conference center. The official list of participants is 30,123-strong as of today, but only 15,000 are allowed inside at once. Even if Big Bella remains open next week, thousands looking to influence heads of government may be denied access.
Maybe the Danish Government and UNFCCC Secretariat will reserve a small, maximum-security area for world leaders only–just enough space that they don’t get anxious about smelling each other’s sweat, but not so much that they forget their stakes in just, sustainable world. It’s not a likely scenario.
In 1992, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The release of An Inconvenient Truth in 2006 catalyzed a tidal–but like tides, temporary–shift in public opinion on climate change. Americans have consistently lagged behind the rest of the world in accepting the science and social implications of global climate disruption. This year’s COP-15 conference in Copenhagen is the biggest conference in the history of the negotiations.
Enormous crowds bring unique humor for patient observers. For instance, a conference of this size in the winter of Northern Europe means an enormous “cloak room.” Yesterday at 10:30pm, a tired, caffeinated crowd descended on the exit hallway to exchange coat tickets for warmth. I was one of them. Youthful conference workers fast-walked back and forth to the racks with smiles, but some government delegates were done with diplomacy for the day. To the amusement of those in line, this delegate didn’t quite understand the coat hanger numbers…
My biggest question after 3 days of Copenhagen negotiations: What the heck is going on?
What's going on? Hard to say.
Yesterday I thought I was following the events of the conference well. I went to a press conference for Climate Justice Fast at noon and heard from four activists and a retired professor who have fasted between five and thirty-three days to demand a binding climate treaty. I then sat in on a few minutes of a Brazil event on biofuels, went to an American youth meeting, and arrived early for the US delegation briefing.
However, I missed the news of the day. In the afternoon the Guardian wrote an article claiming, “Copenhagen climate talks in disarray.” The accompanying photo had a Haitian delegate with her face in her hands in an empty negotiating room. I saw the article and gasped. Whoa. I looked around. Did the talks seem in disarray? Well, not more than usual. What did the Guardian know that I didn’t?
The story reported a leaked “Danish text” that proposed the developed countries essentially take power away from the smaller countries in the UN process. Sounded important. Though actually in the Bella Center, I was at a loss how to learn more information. Finally, I heard that there are dozens of “Danish texts,” drafts of possible treaties. David Roberts from Grist wrote that the news was blown out of proportion–actually, he called it a “nothingburger” on twitter. But Andrew Revkin at the New York Times reported that the “Danish text” was a list of current U.S. demands for a treaty, and that an opposing text by China was in the works.
Following the negotiations at the Bella Center is difficult, as is finding a bathroom and keeping track of the ticket to get my jacket back from the cloak room at the end of the day. Here’s to sorting out news worthy events from false hype and to finding the right meetings to attend.
Usually I’ll stick to what I see and report at the conference. But a reader asked me to respond to the ongoing climate-gate scandal, so here’s my best shot. I’ll try to show why I believe the thousands of hacked e-mails in no way disprove the fundamental science of climate change.
Programs set up at the COP15 central information booth.
Instead, I believe they fed a stream of misinformation that negatively exaggerated a more complicated situation.
Uncertainty exists in climate change science. But the average global temperature is warming over time, and people are making it worse.
I have not read the e-mails, I’m not even sure they’re all posted online. But 20,000+ e-mails is a prodigious reading assignment, and analyzing them all could turn into a full-time job.
Some of us waiting for the meeting to start
Today I went to my first “US Youth” meeting at the Climate Consortium, a large, open, well-lit area for reporters to interview important people. The lights were hot and the background noise loud, but we did benefit from media coverage. Interested photographers took pictures of the gathering as a veteran youth from COP conferences gave a rundown of the negotiations.
As Matt Maiorana explained, one of the most important questions facing delegates is whether to keep a two-track negotiating process through Copenhagen. Don’t know what that means? That’s ok, no one else does either. Take a deep breath and dive with me into the confusing, acronym-rich sea of UN processes.
Annex I countries win Fossil of the Day
Financial commitments from developed countries starting firming up today. And the developing countries weren’t exactly doing cartwheels with joy.
Developing countries negotiators and humanitarian/environmental activists have long called for an Adaptation Fund to help countries most vulnerable to climate catastrophe adapt to new climate conditions. Better levees for increased flooding. Improved food security for harsher droughts. However, until recently the amount of money developed countries would pledge has been a mystery. At the Bangkok negotiations, an “elephant piggy bank” was placed at the head negotiators’ table to indicate the “elephant in the room” was the absence of financial commitments. read more…
Saying the UN climate conference took over downtown Copenhagen is like saying Space is big — a vast understatement.
The view from the entrance of Hopenhagen's downtown festival, part of a campaign by the City of Copenhagen for carbon neutrality.
The conference absolutely overwhelmed downtown. A roughly 20-foot high globe is slap bang in the middle of city hall square. The spherical TV screen is probably visible from Space.
Fluorescent green temporary buildings fill out the square, all housing different displays associated with a new Copenhagen City plan called Hopenhagen. The campaign is leading the city towards carbon neutrality.
A major TV station even broadcast live from the square tonight. We appeared live, see our Flickr feed for proof.
How do we know all this? We were led from the negotiations to city hall by a line of free buses after we left the Bella Center. The City hosted a reception for COP15 participants.
All in all, the detailed, tangible progress of the negotiations is just beginning. But the host city is putting on a heck of a show, and it’s exhilarating to be a part of.
With the world watching, Copenhagen knows how to lead by example.
For my initial thoughts on the conference itself, see my Indy Star blog entry A grown up science fair?
Medieval frescoes of bearded Danish conquerors covered the walls and ceilings. But hundreds of fresh-faced youth activists spread across the floor, gathering to strategize, socialize, and focus collective energy for COP15.
Youth activists and policymakers from around the world gather under medieval frescoes in ceremonial hall in the University of Copenhagen Dec. 6
We joined the Conference of the Youth in the University of Copenhagen’s ceremonial hall today. We met people from Senegal to Vietnam. Taylor and Anthony had a few enthusiastic, smiling reunions with activists from Bonn.
Our meals didn’t go as smoothly as our engagement, but more on that later.
Between almost every session speakers lead call and response: “If you hear me, clap once!” It felt like Kindergarten again. Once the chatter in various languages quieted down, all the leaders spoke English. Taylor and Anthony learned how to coordinate actions and connect to the media in small afternoon groups.
At the end of the day, Greenpeace International Director Kumi Naidoo closed his powerful, inspirational speech with a song [see Anthony’s post for his question and answer].
Don’t let the games and songs fool you. Serious analysis and influence on the UN negotiating process began today.
On the meal front, free vegan brown bag lunches were available all afternoon. I’ve never had a half mushroom, half beet sandwich before. Taylor and Anthony dove right in. I couldn’t finish half.
I also didn’t finish my first cup of tea this morning. I scooped in two teaspoons of what looked like sugar. Once my first sip tasted like tea-flavored ocean, I realized the sugar was actually salt.
That was perhaps the sourest part of an otherwise invigorating day. DEPP has the best chance at changing these negotiations through youth action, so these will be valuable contacts going forward. And, we felt the power of a movement.
Surrounded by the triumphant leaders of old, youth leaders called on each other to demand a fair, ambitious and binding treaty in two weeks from the world leaders of today.
The best part of today was getting to hear a speech from Kumi Naidoo, the new executive director of Greenpeace International . The second best part was getting to eat pie and cake made by our host family with fresh apples from the orchard in their backyard. While the latter tastes delicious, I’ll write about the former, a slightly more relevant story for our climate change blog.
The guy was impressive. He worked against apartheid in South Africa from 1965 to the mid-nineties, and he was most recently the chair of Tck Tck Tck, a campaign aimed at uniting environmental organizations and educating others about the urgency for a successful Copenhagen conference.
After a rousing speech, we had a Q and A session. I asked this question:
“I go to school in Indiana, the heart of opposition to climate change legislation. In June most environmental organizations sent e-mails to me urging support for the cap and trade bill, while Greenpeace declared its opposition because the legislation did not reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough. If the negotiations produce a treaty with reductions that do not match the science, will Greenpeace again urge opposition?”
I got a picture with him!
Naidoo answering by first stating that all of the environmental organizations are united on the ideal: 40% reductions below 1990 emission levels by developed countries (the U.S.’s current offer is 3%). He sidestepped the rest of my question by saying we must keep pushing and pushing for the best until the very end. I understand his position. When everyone’s lamenting how no countries can reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough, someone needs to push for a true vision. But the question of how much environmental NGOs are willing to compromise the ideal remains to be seen. It will be interesting to see whether a split develops between the groups on whether to support a Copenhagen treaty or not.
Well, another piece of apple cake can’t hurt. . .
