Through IYCM, I have joined a team focused on formalizing the youth as stakeholders in the climate debates in any adopted texts. Our task is to lobby delegates for explicit mention of the youth not only as the ultimate victims of unchecked climate change in the long-term, but also— more importantly— as integral components of the solution. With intergenerational equity, increasing access to formal and non-formal environmental education, addressing the rights of young women and girls as they pertain to climate change, and establishing direct youth involvement in the deliberations as our guiding principles, we hope to take strides to promote and solidify the youth as fully capable members of global society.
Now to the state of the deliberations thus far (as much as Kevin and I have been able to cover): There has been a great deal of interesting talk in the last two days about the functionality and scope of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), a flex option that allows countries to purchase credits from non-annex countries for projects that reduce emissions within their borders. While there has been much praise for the mechanism as an entrepreneurial market solution that is one of the few aspects of Kyoto that begins to bridge the gap between the global North and South, it has not been without criticism.
The least developed country block (LDCs), largely composed of African countries including Sierra Leone, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, among others, expressed concerns regarding the equitable distribution of CDM projects regionally, as significantly less than 1% of all projects approved under the program have been within African borders. This certainly raises questions, as one of the primary purposes of the CDM is to promote sustainable development in poorer areas of the world.
In what seemed to me a far less credible complaint, the Umbrella Group (Industrialized non-EU countries), Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates criticized the CDM board for refusing to accept Carbon Capture and Sequestration as an accredited methodology. For this somewhat backwards argument, the Umbrella Group was awarded Second Place in the Daily Fossil Awards hosted by the Climate Action Network, which observes: “[These countries] have gotten used to subsidizing the coal and oil industries in their own countries— but do they really have to subsidize the same dirty companies in developing countries too?” One would hope that the answer is a resounding NO! To follow this daily 'award', visit http://www.fossil-of-the-day.org.
On a more inspirational front, Tuvalu, a member of the Alliance for Small Island States (AOSIS), gave a moving address in plenary in which it boldly called for a new, legally binding treaty to run in parallel with the Kyoto Protocol. In what the representative from Tuvalu referred to as the 'Copenhagen Protocol,' the state called for concrete financing mechanisms, adherence to the principle of intergenerational equity (as laid out in the UNFCCC), measures to stabilize global emissions at 350ppm, and aggressive action to curb climate change at the level deemed safe by the scientific community. Many of the island states were quick to give their support to this measure, stating movingly that this is truly a matter of life or death for entire nations and human civilizations.
In what seemed to me a far less credible complaint, the Umbrella Group (Industrialized non-EU countries), Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates criticized the CDM board for refusing to accept Carbon Capture and Sequestration as an accredited methodology. For this somewhat backwards argument, the Umbrella Group was awarded Second Place in the Daily Fossil Awards hosted by the Climate Action Network, which observes: “[These countries] have gotten used to subsidizing the coal and oil industries in their own countries— but do they really have to subsidize the same dirty companies in developing countries too?” One would hope that the answer is a resounding NO! To follow this daily 'award', visit http://www.fossil-of-the-day.org.
On a more inspirational front, Tuvalu, a member of the Alliance for Small Island States (AOSIS), gave a moving address in plenary in which it boldly called for a new, legally binding treaty to run in parallel with the Kyoto Protocol. In what the representative from Tuvalu referred to as the 'Copenhagen Protocol,' the state called for concrete financing mechanisms, adherence to the principle of intergenerational equity (as laid out in the UNFCCC), measures to stabilize global emissions at 350ppm, and aggressive action to curb climate change at the level deemed safe by the scientific community. Many of the island states were quick to give their support to this measure, stating movingly that this is truly a matter of life or death for entire nations and human civilizations.
While China, Saudi Arabia, and India voiced opposition to such a protocol, the NGO community showed great solidarity and support for the bold declaration of Tuvalu, staging a number of demonstrations throughout the day in which "Tuvalu Survival" was the resounding theme. I was glad to be a part of this organized peripheral support.
Later in the day, I had the pleasure of watching Secretary of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Lisa Jackson discuss the positive implications of Monday’s endangerment finding under the Clean Air Act on the regulation of domestic CO2 emissions in the United States. While President Obama has made it clear that legislation remains the primary goal for climate action, this victory in the EPA opens great doors for the U.S. to at last take serious action to combat climate change. Administrator Jackson expressed optimism that this decision, and the election of President Obama, will usher in a new era of U.S. action on the environmental front. Let’s hope she’s right.
The experience at the Conference thus far has been eye opening, engaging, and positively enriching. While this has come at the expense of the schoolwork I still have to do, I wouldn’t trade this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the world.
Best,
Nick Allen
Later in the day, I had the pleasure of watching Secretary of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Lisa Jackson discuss the positive implications of Monday’s endangerment finding under the Clean Air Act on the regulation of domestic CO2 emissions in the United States. While President Obama has made it clear that legislation remains the primary goal for climate action, this victory in the EPA opens great doors for the U.S. to at last take serious action to combat climate change. Administrator Jackson expressed optimism that this decision, and the election of President Obama, will usher in a new era of U.S. action on the environmental front. Let’s hope she’s right.
The experience at the Conference thus far has been eye opening, engaging, and positively enriching. While this has come at the expense of the schoolwork I still have to do, I wouldn’t trade this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the world.
Best,
Nick Allen
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