theClimateers

UN negotiators from Annex I (developed) countries have been working to push through text on Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) by the end of the Bonn negotiations on Friday, June 11. The draft text, however, creates several loopholes that allow developed countries to effectively hide emissions from land use as if they do not exist.

By forcing through the text without removing these loopholes, developed countries would be allowed to emit millions of tons of new carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions without accounting for them. This would lead to a major deviation from emissions reductions demanded by science and would have catastrophic consequences for developing countries and future generations.

International youth observers at the UN conference responded to the threat of the text being finalized with these disastrous loopholes by launching a campaign to alert negotiators to the irresponsibility and unacceptability of such a decision for young and future generations.

Danny (UKYCC) Hiding from the LULUCF Emissions Accountant

To begin the campaign on Tuesday morning, we greeted negotiators arriving for the day with a hide-and-seek game between youth dressed up as greenhouse gas emissions and inept emissions accountants unable to find them for lack of trying. The 12 of us dressed up as tonnes of greenhouse gases and hid behind trees and camoflauged themselves with twigs outside the conference center as negotiators arrived. Meanwhile, two fumbling accountants attempted half-heartedly to find and enter the hidden emissions into the books while engaging delegates to explain their inability to find the emissions, often in plain sight, given the problematic rules in the current text that make accounting voluntary.

Hannah (UKYCC), not very good at accounting for emissions

In the afternoon, we followed up with two more actions. First, we asked delegates to throw small balls, each labeled as a tonne of CO2, through a LULUCF loophole to “make them magically disappear”. Balls that made it through the loophole were met with boos. We, representing the youth and future generations, then had the burden of dealing with them, sometimes throwing them back with demands that every emission should be counted. Also in the afternoon, we hid small sheets of paper that said “Congratulations! You’ve just found one ton of hidden LULUCF emissions. Please bring it back to the 350.org/SustainUS booth so that it may be accounted for,” all around the conference center.

Delegates throw emissions through LULUCF loophole to be dealt with by young and future generations

On Wednesday, several youth carried a giant cardboard cut-out of a chainsaw through the Maritim Hotel, where the conference is taking place. With “LULUCF Logging Loopholes” written on it, the chainsaw represented a tool for deforestation without accountability for the emissions generated by it.

These logging loopholes in the negotiating text would allow developed countries to hide emissions so that they can pretend they are not there. But at the end of the day, these emissions from land use and forestry are still real greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere, and they need to be counted and reduced to help ensure a safe climate for today’s youth and for our children and grandchildren.

Time is flying here in Copenhagen.  The question is, are we flying in a private jet or gracefully soaring like an eagle?  Are we headed towards an outcome in Copenhagen that will continue to support a dirty energy economy that pollutes greenhouse gases without thought of its grave impacts on the ecological systems and habitability of this earth or one that will give us, and future generations, a chance at a beautiful, sustainable future.

This pointed question is at the middle of today’s activities in the Bella Center. This year, global youth at the UNFCCC acquired a more formal status, that of a “constituency”.  Constituency status, initially just given to “BINGOs” (Business and Industry NGOs) and “ENGOs” (Environmental NGOs), allows NGOs falling under particular umbrellas to have greater access to the UNFCCC Secretariat by way of funneling shared issues and requests through one or two representatives or “focal points”.

To celebrate the addition of YOUNGOs to the list of constituencies to the UNFCCC, today, December 10, we’re hosting Young and Future Generations Day in cooperation with the Secretariat.  We have 1,000 youth running around the convention center with bright orange t-shirts asking negotiators, NGO leaders and press, “how old will you be in 2050″ and demanding that negotiations “don’t bracket our future”.  We’re also handing out 1,000 orange scarves to our supporters in country delegations and leading international NGOs.

I’m currently sitting in a Side Event (where NGO observers have a chance to speak on various issues related to the COP-15 negotiations) presented by SustainUS on Youth Voices on REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). The opportunity to hold events such as this forest side event with its quiet, academic tone is a necessary part of youth involvement at COP alongside our other actions.

credit: Robert vanWaarden

Sometimes our loud, media-grabbing actions such as supporting Tuvalu’s call for new, transparent discussions for a legal treaty yesterday outside of the Plenary hall or crashing an Americans for Prosperity live telecast event held outside of COP (yes, this is the one where Lord Monckton repeatedly calls us Nazis and Hitler Youth) paint youth involvement into a corner – one where it can be difficult to see our deep understanding of the climate policy and ecological science.

Yesterday, Lord Monckton called us “Hitler Youth who know nothing about climate science” but the bright minds in this forests side event, and the young people from the world over whom I’ve talked to around the entire convention center, disprove him time after time.

We are a force to be reckoned with, not just because of our numbers or our energy, but also because of our knowledge climate science and our understanding of what is at stake.  Our compassion for one another, for the small island states and the world’s poorest communities, and for future generations is overwhelming and contagious.

I’m so energized to keep working in this movement, and to keep appreciating the importance and the power of youth even as I get older.  Today is my birthday and I’m now 24.  On December 10, 2050, I’ll have just turned 65.  By that point in time, official retirement age will probably be over 70, but even it if it isn’t, I’ll probably still be hard at work managing environmental issues.

P.S. Haven’t gotten me a birthday present yet? Consider donating to my Copenhagen Fund.  A $5 donation helps me buy a meal at the Bella Center (where food is subsidized, thank goodness) or a bit of tap water in the city of Copenhagen… And hey, it’s tax deductible!

Cross posted from It’s Getting Hot in Here

As 27 of my fellow SustainUSers are in Copenhagen are attending plenary sessions and planning actions with international youth from around the world, I’m holding down the fort in Washington, DC by bridging the news from Denmark to actions at home.

A friend of mine earnestly remarked today that he thought grassroots and youth organizing for COP15 was a lost cause because the real negotiating at Copenhagen, and that legislative change in the U.S. Senate happens behind closed doors between high-level decisionmakers and powerful lobbyists; that protests, petitions, and rallies are tiny blips on the political radar. And I suppose he has a point – the COP15 outcome depends highly upon decisions of key leaders, and the deep pocketbooks of special interest groups and corporations resonate at higher decibels than kids with hand-painted banners and street actions.

But he’s wrong to conclude that it’s a waste of our time. After a brief afternoon existential crisis of the importance of our collective work, I stopped to look around at all the inspiring work coming from delegates in Copenhagen and my friends all over the country. It’s easy to become apathetic or discouraged, but it takes a lot more to keep fighting the fight.

Don’t underestimate the value of expressing your two cents to your leaders – it’s money well spent! We’ve already seen a positive change in political climate from our tireless campaigns – from Obama’s willingness to engage with youth climate leaders to the growing support for 350 ppm as our new global CO2 stabilization target – and though our gains may seem incremental, they are certainly pointing in clear direction: forward.

“I have cast my lot with those who, age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world,” writes poet Adrienne Rich. We may not have money or extraordinary power on our side, but we have our youth, creativity, energy, enthusiasm, and dedication, and no astroturf effort can buy that kind of genuine passion. Sure, even a visible Ark on the National Mall isn’t alone going to convince my Senator to vote for the Climate Bill, but it’s the combined effect of all sorts of actions happening worldwide that show our collective force.

As youth delegate Caroline points out in her dispatch from Copenhagen, it’s important for us at home to build on the momentum from our friends in Denmark to push for domestic action.  Join a rapid response team! Call your senators to voice your support for the Climate Bill!  Talk to your friends and neighbors to raise awareness about these issues to people who might not otherwise know about them! Attend a 12/12 candlelight vigil!

Tomorrow, youth activists in Copenhagen are holding a Bed-In to commemorate the assassination of John Lennon by singing a climate-adapted version of “Give Peace a Chance.” The message? Give youth a chance.