take two

Day two allowed us more daylight, but only marginally. Our ventures brought us first to the IISD(International Institute of Sustainable Development) Development & Climate Days, a series of panels about issues and concerns related to the COP15. As the delegates of the 21 and under generation, Athena and I listened to discussions about adaptation; a reality many countries will have to deal with in the near future. Project leaders from Bangladesh spoke about the problems of having extreme droughts in some areas and intense storms in others. The Nepalese representative spoke about the fires due to lack of melting glaciers in the Himalayas. (Thats right- they're already gone.) The countries all shared the need for refuge for their soon to be refugees. NAPAs and LAPAs, national and local adaptation plans of action, are now being negotiated and in some cases enacted in these countries already facing their worst nightmares.

Later, we met up with Inge, a Danish friend of mine I met studying abroad in Madrid. She was offered a position as an attache for the COP, but could not, as she is currently writing her thesis. Nevertheless, she gave us her perspective on things- noting how lively the city was for a Sunday night and the heavy population of tourists. She works in a fair trade shop/cafe, and gets endless questions about the COP goings-on. As she searched for the word vigil, she expressed some cynicism about the huge environmental footprint the conference is making. I have questioned this many times personally, considering all the people flown in this weekand the increased pressure put on this relatively small, waterlogged plot of land. While I will battle with this eco-guilt for awhile, it will all be worth it for a solid, binding emissions target.

We've already witnessed many different perspectives of climate change and approaches to solving the crisis. To me, this is the best thing about being here in Copenhagen: observing and interacting with different groups and individuals, seeing the top down (government) and bottom up (grassroot peoples movements) approaches, while not forgetting those in the middle (the regional level emphasized in Prof. Selin's Global Environmental Negotiations class). This is systemic change being addressed here, and we can't afford to forget anybody.