I realize I didn't give the locations, Vicki's is in room 204 Rankin and Nicky's is in CHEM 123. Here is a campus map: http://map.umt.edu/
More about today's conference tomorrow morning (my time) off to bed since it is 12:16 am here!
Monday, December 7, 2009
We need a FAB deal
Today has been craziness, and it is only 14:00 here. I finally got a breather in between side events, and the welcome ceremony. To give you an idea about how many people are here: 17,000 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are accredited, 30,000 people are accredited and next week 110 heads of state will be coming to Copenhagen including President Obama. During the opening ceremonies the Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen, Mayor Bjerregaard of Copenhagen and Dr. Rajendra Kumar Rachauri the chair of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and Mr. Yuo de Boer the executive secretary of UNFCC addressed the delegates. They all made the message clear-- our differences can be overcome if the willpower is strong enough and we need a Fair, Ambitious, Binding agreement for the current suffers and future generations that will suffer from the consequences of climate change.
Rasmussen stressed that the delegates need to do something because the world is relying on them and that (civil society) will help them in this process, since they will be the ones facing the consequences if the delegates don't act. There has been alot of global support for a FAB deal, over 4 million people have raised their voice on the COP15 youtube channel . Rasmussen then said the world is depositing hope onto you [delegates] and we must deliver hope for the future.
Mayor Bjerrengaard voiced the same opinion, and emphasized the urgency of getting a deal in motion. Next week there will be a climate summit of mayors also here in Copenhagen where mayors from over 70 of the largest cities will be here to hopefully sign some climate agreement. Rasmussen ended her speech by asking "please seal the deal."
Mr. Yuo de Boer, started his speech by sharing a story of a 6 year old boy who was separated from his family because of a cyclone, and was reunited with his grandmother weeks after the storm and still has not found his parents or siblings. This scenario he said will keep playing out if we don't act. He then used a cake analogy to explain what we need at this conference. The bottom of the cake we need prompt adaptation strategies, REDD, capacity building, finance options and technology options, the next layer would be binding commitments and the icing would be long term cooperative action and goals. He said Copenhagen will only be successful if we have immediate action and that action needs to be solid and tangible. We have six days before ministers of countries show up then two days later leaders of countries begin to arrive, that means there is eight days to write an agreement. It is time to reach out to each other.
Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri stressed that climate change is happening now and that this conference must ACT. He reiterated some of the climate projections and consequences found in the 4th IPCC Assessment. Dr Pachauri also stressed that there are viable adaptation options and the longer we wait the more costly it will be to mitigate climate change. We must have large scale mitigation actions and financing must be provided for countries and then Pachauri stressed that if we don't do something by 2015 to reduce our GHG emissions we will see some of the direst climate change scenarios play out. He also addressed the stolen letters, and explained how the IPCC process is inclusive of all climate change science, it is robust and uses peer reviewed sources, it is objective and is reviewed by scientists and governments. I talked to some representatives from Sweden's equivalent of the US's Green Party about these letters. They said that the letters have not had as large of an impact on climate skepticism in their country, but it has opened the dialogue to discuss the scientific procedure. Yet, in the US it has allowed the climate skeptics a "platform" to debunk climate change. I have realized that the US is the only country that has not fully accepted that climate change is happening and it frustrates me. Yet, the welcome ceremony gave me hope that this conference will move forward and that we will see atleast a skeleton of a treaty drawn up.
Some other thoughts/tidbits so far....
Also I will be Skyping into Vicki Watson's Ecology class at 12:40 on 12.10.2009 so if you would like to ask me questions directly I recommend you attend. I will also be Skyping into Nicky Phear's climate change class at 3:40 on 12.09.2009 also that day I will likely be on MT NPR at 5:30 so tune in then. (If anyone else would like me, zach or melissa to skype in to their classroom or something let us know)
That is all for now...
Rasmussen stressed that the delegates need to do something because the world is relying on them and that (civil society) will help them in this process, since they will be the ones facing the consequences if the delegates don't act. There has been alot of global support for a FAB deal, over 4 million people have raised their voice on the COP15 youtube channel . Rasmussen then said the world is depositing hope onto you [delegates] and we must deliver hope for the future.
Mayor Bjerrengaard voiced the same opinion, and emphasized the urgency of getting a deal in motion. Next week there will be a climate summit of mayors also here in Copenhagen where mayors from over 70 of the largest cities will be here to hopefully sign some climate agreement. Rasmussen ended her speech by asking "please seal the deal."
Mr. Yuo de Boer, started his speech by sharing a story of a 6 year old boy who was separated from his family because of a cyclone, and was reunited with his grandmother weeks after the storm and still has not found his parents or siblings. This scenario he said will keep playing out if we don't act. He then used a cake analogy to explain what we need at this conference. The bottom of the cake we need prompt adaptation strategies, REDD, capacity building, finance options and technology options, the next layer would be binding commitments and the icing would be long term cooperative action and goals. He said Copenhagen will only be successful if we have immediate action and that action needs to be solid and tangible. We have six days before ministers of countries show up then two days later leaders of countries begin to arrive, that means there is eight days to write an agreement. It is time to reach out to each other.
Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pachauri stressed that climate change is happening now and that this conference must ACT. He reiterated some of the climate projections and consequences found in the 4th IPCC Assessment. Dr Pachauri also stressed that there are viable adaptation options and the longer we wait the more costly it will be to mitigate climate change. We must have large scale mitigation actions and financing must be provided for countries and then Pachauri stressed that if we don't do something by 2015 to reduce our GHG emissions we will see some of the direst climate change scenarios play out. He also addressed the stolen letters, and explained how the IPCC process is inclusive of all climate change science, it is robust and uses peer reviewed sources, it is objective and is reviewed by scientists and governments. I talked to some representatives from Sweden's equivalent of the US's Green Party about these letters. They said that the letters have not had as large of an impact on climate skepticism in their country, but it has opened the dialogue to discuss the scientific procedure. Yet, in the US it has allowed the climate skeptics a "platform" to debunk climate change. I have realized that the US is the only country that has not fully accepted that climate change is happening and it frustrates me. Yet, the welcome ceremony gave me hope that this conference will move forward and that we will see atleast a skeleton of a treaty drawn up.
Some other thoughts/tidbits so far....
- During sessions I am usually the youngest or one of the youngest people present
- I am constantly being "watched" the number of cameras, and video cameras constantly filming this conference is INSANE... everywhere I look I can see the little red light on the video cameras and flashes from cameras.
- You can access video from the sessions and I believe on the plenary sessions at http://en.cop15.dk/
- This event at the Bella Centere is super sustainable -- there is no water bottles, 2/3 the food is organic and much of it is locally produced and instead of gifts for negotiating nations Denmark is fully funding education here in Copenhagen 11 "climate scholars" who are from around the world.
- The Copenhagen harbor is clean enough to swim in.
- Copenhagen will be the 1st carbon neutral city, their goal carbon neutrality by 2025
- 50% of Copenhagen citizens ride their bikes for commuting
Also I will be Skyping into Vicki Watson's Ecology class at 12:40 on 12.10.2009 so if you would like to ask me questions directly I recommend you attend. I will also be Skyping into Nicky Phear's climate change class at 3:40 on 12.09.2009 also that day I will likely be on MT NPR at 5:30 so tune in then. (If anyone else would like me, zach or melissa to skype in to their classroom or something let us know)
That is all for now...
Travels to Copenhagen
The flight from Seattle to Paris was awesome! We flew over the Arctic and even though it was nighttime it was a clear night. I could see the sea ice and Greenland from the plane, the only cluster of lights was Godthab, Greenland. I also saw the northern lights from our plane, which was breath-taking. But the plane from Seattle was late and I had to run through the Paris airport to try and catch my plane to Copenhagen, which I ended up missing. But, I arrived here at 3pm yesterday and let me say the Copenhagen airport is the coolest airport ever, it is hard to describe but its clean, quiet, not stressful, it's just great! Once Melissa and I got our baggage, we headed straight for the Bella Centere to get my accreditation badge, which took three hours of line waiting. When obtained my badge it was smooth sailing the rest of the evening. I met the Anja who 's apartment we are renting out for the conference. The apartment is small and is within walking distance of the bus (it is only 15 minutes to Bella) and on the way there is an amazing pastry shop. The city of Copenhagen seems great but I haven't had to much time to see or explore since I just wanted to sleep when we got to Anja's that evening.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Sitting in Seattle.
I have a few hours before I leave for Paris and then from there I will get a flight to Copenhagen, where I will arrive tomorrow. I'm starting to get really excited about attending the COP15 and feel really blessed that I was chosen for this amazing opportunity. The Environmental Studies Department was so generous to fund both Melissa and myself to attend this unprecedented conference. I have also gotten a lot of support from various environmental studies professors, climate change studies professors and other people working in the field. Everyone has helped me gain the tools and knowledge that I need to move forward and tackle this issue. This is an amazing opportunity not only for me, but for everyone at UM and in Montana and I hope that I will be a good representative.
I have been working on climate change issues for a while, I'll give you a quick snap shot on what I have been involved with. It all began in 2007 when I dressed as a polar bear for the Step It Up rally in Minneapolis. Since then I have worked with University of Montana's Climate Action Now student group. UMCAN has done many activities including Powershift 09 in Washington DC, Green Griz basketball game, Regional Powershift in Eugene Oregon, Recycling Awareness events, and much much more. This last semester I worked with a few other students to host a 350 event on campus, which was part of the International Climate Day of Action. To learn more about what I have done and what UM has done read my guest article on NewWest here
Feel free to post or email me comments and questions while I am in Copenhagen. You can email me at yaicha.bookhout@umontana.edu
I have been working on climate change issues for a while, I'll give you a quick snap shot on what I have been involved with. It all began in 2007 when I dressed as a polar bear for the Step It Up rally in Minneapolis. Since then I have worked with University of Montana's Climate Action Now student group. UMCAN has done many activities including Powershift 09 in Washington DC, Green Griz basketball game, Regional Powershift in Eugene Oregon, Recycling Awareness events, and much much more. This last semester I worked with a few other students to host a 350 event on campus, which was part of the International Climate Day of Action. To learn more about what I have done and what UM has done read my guest article on NewWest here
Feel free to post or email me comments and questions while I am in Copenhagen. You can email me at yaicha.bookhout@umontana.edu
Friday, December 4, 2009
15 people worth watching at COP15
Being one of 20,000 official delegates and then having swarms of thousands of activists, journalists, business leaders, and NGO reps in addition it is hard to know who to watch for. I just stumbled across this interesting Grist article about 15 people worth keeping an eye on during the COP15 negotiations. It's slideshow by Jonathan Hiskes in "A Gristy guide to the COP15 climate talks"
I also found a cool interactive time line outlining climate change and climate talks starting in 1988, which can be found here
I also found a cool interactive time line outlining climate change and climate talks starting in 1988, which can be found here
Some thoughts before I leave...
I will be leaving tomorrow for Denmark at 7am. I have been really excited and busy getting ready for this trip, which is unlike any other I have taken or any I will take in the future. Never in the history of international negotiations have so many people come together to debate and discuss climate change. To learn more about the negotiations I recommend going to the GOOD guide to Cop15, it gives a nice overview. The official site can be found here. As I started to examine my role in the negotiations, I started to examine my generation's role in climate change advocacy.
Last March, I attended the Powershift Conference, which was a youth climate conference to address climate change. One of the keynote speakers was Congressman Ed Markey and he said, "we cannot accomplish the change we need to accomplish, for our world, for our country, for our communities unless we have the young people of our world involved." I believe it is time for our generation to shine. In 2050, many climate models predict that many of the direst effects will start to happen such as drought, water shortages, rising sea levels, loss of biodiversity, massive extinctions, and other environmental effects. When these environmental effects are combined, they create many different problems which could cause millions (maybe billions) of people to become environmental refugees and political instability around the world. How old will you be in 2050? This question will be brought up many times to negotiators in Copenhagen. Since many of our current negotiators and policy makers will be very old or dead, our generation needs to stand up and make our voices heard. Our future is being determined by the decisions being made in Congress, in the Senate and in Copenhagen right now!!!! While I have a unique position to make my voice heard on the world stage, it is up to every one of us to make our generation's voices heard.
With the Obama administration, our generation is starting to be heard. This Wed President Obama hosted a Youth Clean Energy Forum at the White House, Jessy Tolken with the Energy Action Coalition give a good overview of the forum here. To watch the full forum go to the New York Times here Our generation is the one that can and will turn the tides both in Copenhagen and in the United States.
Last March, I attended the Powershift Conference, which was a youth climate conference to address climate change. One of the keynote speakers was Congressman Ed Markey and he said, "we cannot accomplish the change we need to accomplish, for our world, for our country, for our communities unless we have the young people of our world involved." I believe it is time for our generation to shine. In 2050, many climate models predict that many of the direst effects will start to happen such as drought, water shortages, rising sea levels, loss of biodiversity, massive extinctions, and other environmental effects. When these environmental effects are combined, they create many different problems which could cause millions (maybe billions) of people to become environmental refugees and political instability around the world. How old will you be in 2050? This question will be brought up many times to negotiators in Copenhagen. Since many of our current negotiators and policy makers will be very old or dead, our generation needs to stand up and make our voices heard. Our future is being determined by the decisions being made in Congress, in the Senate and in Copenhagen right now!!!! While I have a unique position to make my voice heard on the world stage, it is up to every one of us to make our generation's voices heard.
With the Obama administration, our generation is starting to be heard. This Wed President Obama hosted a Youth Clean Energy Forum at the White House, Jessy Tolken with the Energy Action Coalition give a good overview of the forum here. To watch the full forum go to the New York Times here Our generation is the one that can and will turn the tides both in Copenhagen and in the United States.
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