A short video of our last day at COP14 as a united group of youths from around the globe working together as one to make a difference in the world.
500+ Youths.
50+ Countries.
6 Continents.
ONE shared vision.
Enjoy! =D
Also, do check out our flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/28141023@N06/ for more photos from COP14…
The international youth action Project Survival was really heart-thumping. I cant think of any other way to describe it. The understanding of the tremendous amount of effort, patience, understanding, courage and goodwill that took to orchestrate the action really leaves me speechless and feeling so good and proud to have known the youths who took charge of organising it. Standing there chanting and I know this is something I want to devote my energies to. This movement is truly something that I want to be part of, it just goes to reaffirm that as long as there is a common goal at then end, things will just fall into place and happen in the best way possible.
these are post action thoughts that are for a pre ACTION tomorrow at copenhagen
GO YOUTHS! GO WORLD!
Protests. What are they really good for? What are the outcomes from a protest? Does everybody who participate in the protest really genuinely feel for the topic or are they in it because its fun, fashionable and for the novelty.
People around the world often gather in large numbers and take it to the streets to protest. They protest against war, government policies, human rights violations and climate change. Most recently the youth protest in Athens escalated from a protest to a full blown riot against the Greek police, for the accidental killing of a young teenage boy. Autopsy later revealed that the boy was killed by a ricochet bullet. Nonetheless, the riots also became an outlet of anger against the Greek government’s policies which had resulted in low employment rates and widening the divide between the rich and poor.
Across the continent in China, dozens of people protested in Beijing yesterday, 60th Anniversary of the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They claim the Chinese government has allegedly taken away their homes and for those who were sent to labor camps, were beaten badly. There were petitioners present who made the trip from their hometown, away from the local government, to the central government to seek justice. This could be seen as an age old practice dated to the days of the imperial China where the common folk could petition the Emperor.
On the 15th February 2003 in Canada, a 40,000 strong protest took to the streets of Vancouver in an effort to protest against the United States invasion of Iraq. On that single day, a total of 6 million people around the world took part in a cohesive effort to show their deep resentment for the invasion of Iraq. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, that was the largest turnout of protesters in history. The United States with its allies, invaded Iraq on 20th March 2003.
I do not seek to put down the efforts and thoughts behind protesting as I do personally feel that protests can be really effective. However, what should we really aim to do when we protest? Some protests can be large in numbers. Some protests can have positive effects. Some protests are purely disruptive. I take reference to the protest at Stansted Airport on the 8th December 2008 by Plane Stupid. As much as it seemed extremely disruptive and overbearingly annoying to have your plane delayed and be stuck at an airport, the result of their protest was in essence a temporary pause in our CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. The figures are as follows: (taken from www.planestupid.com)
10:20am update: The Press Association reports that 57 people have been arrested, and 56 Ryanair flights cancelled. That’s one flight per protester, meaning each personally stopped 41.58 tonnes of greenhouse gas equivalent.
8:10am update: At least 39 people have been arrested and the runway re-opened. BAA are claiming that 21 flights have been cancelled. Every minute the airport emits around 4 tonnes of CO2.
6:00am update: BAA have confirmed that the first flights out of the airport have been delayed. The average flight out of Stansted has a climate impact equivalent to 41.58 tonnes of CO2.
Bearing that in mind, would you be willing to be stuck at an airport for many hours? As much as it was for the “greater good”, how many of us would really want this to happen to us?
Maybe we should take a look at WHY people protest. Afterall, you risk getting arrested and into legal trouble by protesting. People protest because of ONE simple reason – their voices are ignored by the powers that be. People do sign petitions, fill up forms, wear badges, try to contact their local government offices and do attempt to get their voices heard. In a democratic society, arent our leaders supposed to listen to us? Otherwise what seperates us from having a dictator?
In COP14, I have personally witnessed two sides of the coin. The story from the people who organize protests in desperation and the leaders who appear nonchalant and calm. I do see the difficulty in being the minority and without proper political power, all you can do is protest. It beats suffering in silence. As a consolation, you get the media attention you require to amplify your voice and concerns and might still win. The ones who are on the receiving end of the protests would rather the protestors NOT merely point out mistakes and blames but to offer solutions and aid. Ironically, it is their job to do so. But if we simply criticise without providing constructive feedback, our efforts would be be ultimately futile.
We are embarking on a small video series, where we interview youths in the International Youth Delegation as well as youths who are attending COP14. We aim to record different opinions, a little update of what is happening in their part of the world and hope to inspire other youths to get interested in the climate change movement.
350 is supposedly the most important number on the planet. The number 350 was taken that the safer upper limit for atmospheric CO2 is 350 parts per million. To give a brief explanation on what parts per million is, as per cent means out of a hundred, so parts per million or ppm means out of a million. Parts per million – ppm - is commonly used as a measure of small levels of pollutants in air, water etc. According to scientific studies, we are currently at 385 parts per million and that is a far cry from our pre-industrial revolution days, where the amount was only approvimately 275ppm. Based on that, the amount was doubled as the maximum limit where the scientific drew the line, to basically not exceed 550ppm. A common target range amongst the climate change analysts, backed by Nicholas Stern, would be be between 450 and 550 ppm. This has been the general concensus till James Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, announced that we would in actual fact need to cut the levels to 350ppm or we would be faced with irreversible impacts on our planet.
On the 8th December, hundreds of youth and members of the public participated in an aerial display which took place on Freedom Square in Poznan. We lay down on the freezing cold concrete to form the large image as seen in the photo. Thankfully we had some nice hot chocolate being passed around to keep us slightly warmer. Nonetheless I hope it was worth everyone’s effort and that people around the world would learn more about our fragile environment and stop being ignorant. Changes around us can be subtle and unnoticable and at times even forgettable. But we should never neglect the effects we have on our planet as in the end, we are only harming ourselves and might be the cause of our own extinction.
from my point of view @ the top of the number 5
Check out the short video which contains interviews from participants of the “Stop Clowning Around” mass march on the 7th December 2008 – Global Action Day. Majority of the march participants were clowns and polar bears which was simply amazing and amusing. They marched with banners spotting the slogan, “Political leaders: Stop clowning around!”. The goal of the action is to communicate the message that 1) political leaders should take climate change serious and 2) that young people are serious about climate change and desire a stronger voice in the climate change negotiations.
Find out more about the International Youth Delegation, which is made up of more than 500 young people from more than 50 countries, at COP14. Click logo to read more. =)
RuiYan & I (YongPing) took part in a Critical Mass cycling event today as part of Global Day of Action on climate change. The streets of Poznan were flooded with at least a couple of hundred cyclists and we had a huge impact on the traffic for that span of time. The point of the critical mass was not to obstruct traffic but to make people rethink their means of travel. From our point of view, it seemed like we were making a good point. However, when I think about it, doing something this massive which affects the every day routine/lives of others make them resent the message we are trying to spread because of the way it is being put across? From the lack of cars honking at us, it might be something positive. =) Here is a short video put together from the event.
After the cycling event, there was a huge march from the Plac Wolnosci (Freedom Square) where hundreds of people wore loud and colourful costumes. Majority of the march participants were clowns and polar bears which was simply amazing and amusing. They marched with banners spotting the slogan, “Political leaders: Stop clowning around!”. The goal of the action is to communicate the message that 1) political leaders should take climate change serious and 2) that young people are serious about climate change and desire a stronger voice in the climate change negotiations.
Today, the European Youth Delegates demand for the EU Climate and Energy Package.
When the EU committed to keep climate change well below 2 degrees Celsius, together with concrete commitments in the Bali Road Map last year, the EU was showing leadership in international negotiations. These commitments were a huge step forwards and set the benchmark for others to follow. For the first time, we had a real chance to move towards an agreement that would avoid the most serious impacts of climate change.
12 months have passed and the EU is apparently going back on their promises. The climate and energy package currently on the table will put us on a path to a world well above 2 degress of warming, endangering the future of every young person in the world today. In addition, the EU had so far failed to come up with credible proposals to finance the Bali roadmap.
In their actions today, the European Youth Delegates came together to present the following items to be included in the energy package.
- At least 40% domestic GHG reductions by 2020
- Additional, binding and sufficient financing for mitigation and adaption in the South.
The European heads of state will have the opportunity to shape the world and hopefully will take into serious consideration what the youths have to say.
This is pretty late for first (penned) thoughts, but still. COP 14 and COY 4 has been mind-boggling and thought-provoking to say the least.
To set the context, I am a young person who came to Poznan (on a three-week notice at that) with no concept of COY or the label ‘international youth delegate’, very vague ideas about the global youth movement and mostly personal goals.
I venture an understatement: COY was an absolutely fantastic surprise, to meet so many passionate individuals was refreshing, motivating and heartwarming. Better yet, was to find such individuals TOGETHER in the same one space. There is truly something spectacular about global movements.
We speak many different and unshared languages, work in frustratingly different ways, understand issues differently; in terms of perspective and depth. I still feel lost in the term ‘international youth delegates’ and cannot articulate my prescence here simply and succinctly in one line. But all that is but a small compromise -if one at all- for us all to actually be here to meet and learn from each other, to agree on the general principle of wanting to be part of a movement that saves ourselves. (although it would be much more fabulous if we could all be part of a WORLD, instead of only -relative!- a movement) It is diffcult -for me- to believe completely when a negotiator says, ‘We are all here. for You.’ but the youth are definitely here for US.
Many youth delegates attended the side event (events concurrent to the formal plenary sessions, workshops and roundtables) ‘Intergenerational Inquiry on Climate Solutions’, where a diverse bunch of panelists were called to ‘testify’ and try explain the frustrating lack of progress in arriving at a solution for the climate catastrophy. Amongst the panelists, there was Yvo de Boer (UNFCCC Executive Secretary), Michael Zammit Cutajar (Vice Cair, AWG-LCA), Diann Black Layne (key spokeswoman and negotiator for AOSIS and Antigua Barbuda), Jose Romero (Negotiator for Switzerland), Anna Keenan (Australian Youth Climate Coalition)…to name a few. There were realists, optimists, and the helpfuls. Its a shame I couldn’t video record the session, so I can’t be absolutely sure that the following tidbits are exact words, but I try! Anyhow, I think they are worth thinking about just as a string of words..The charges:
Inquiry in progress. Yvo de Boer, Alex Kirby
1)How does your action contribute to a collective solution?
*[I will try my best to faciliate an effective outcome and maintain an environment of trust]*
*[AOSIS is the conscience of the convention]*
*[After I came to COP, I realised why I was born.]*
*[We decided to specialise in budget negotiation. Everything is about money]*
*[Be part of the solution]*
*[...I have three children...]*
*[Youth is more important than Age]*
2)What is the most important compromise that must be made to achieve a global post-2012 agreement?
*[Compromise greed and fear]*
*[We cannot compromise. We cannot compromise on Science]*
*[Compromiso - it is commitment in Spanish]*
Anna Keenan speaks at the inquiry - she encourages youth to get involved and be concerned about the environment back in Australia.
