So, everything didn’t go exactly as planned in Copenhagen. At the climate summit, commonly known as COP15 (the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change-in case you were curious), prominent nonprofits were locked out of the debate, and more than a few accusations surfaced that a select group of countries worked in secret to reach their arrangements, effectively negating the wishes of the majority of participants. Worst of all, perhaps, is that after all the hoopla, the protesting, the big show, nothing really happened: no hard emissions targets, no treaties, nothing, really, except the flimsiest agreement possible and a promise to meet again.
Maybe after all that, you are feeling a little disillusioned with the whole process. That’s understandable. But rather than descend into cynicism, you can tackle climate change head-0n, and be a part of the next climate change forum. COP16 isn’t scheduled to take place until December of 2010, in Mexico. And unless you’re a head of state, you probably won’t have much of say.
Bolivian President Evo Morales has proposed something else entirely: a climate change conference for everyone, appropriately titled the People’s World Conference on Climate Change. The event itself is slated to take place April 19th to 22nd in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The conference is a completely different approach to the problems of climate change–analyzing the structural causes, examining the rights of nature, and working to create a mechanism for paying off climate debt. And even if you can’t make it to Bolivia, you can make your voice heard.
Visit the website. Register for free. Read an analysis or two. After you’ve taken a look around the website, then you can take your participation to the next level. The easiest way to get involved is to join a working group. There are twelve in total, and you can join up to five.
Though the goals of the conference are somewhat fluid, you can be assured that the agenda is more progressive and ambitious than anything put forward at COP15. Be a part of the action. If you don’t, you have no one to blame but yourself if this climate change conference doesn’t produce the results you hoped for.
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After living a quasi-nomadic life which began in South Carolina, Corey went to Europe and traveled across a good part of the East Coast, before settling into the Bay Area with his family. He is finding the location quite agreeable. It is likely that the nomadic lifestyle will end. A writer and an activist, Corey draws from years of private sector and nonprofit experience to write about the environment, foreign policy, fair trade, and anything else that should be talked about more but isn't.
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Corey,
Indeed Copenhagen was disappointing. I volunteered with the United Nations Liaison Office in November 2009 as they hosted the United Nations Advocacy Week. The UNAW attempted to tackle issue like climate refugees and global climate change. UNAW did a wonderful job of examing global climate change and how more developed countries really need to pay reparations for smaller countries that are paying the price. Tuvalu is a small island state that is slowly being submerged in water because of climate change. The connonumdrum is that lesser developed countries are forced to pay the price (which they can’t) for the carbon emmissions of more developed countries. The moral debate is how much should more developed countires pay to begin combatting the issues of climate change? What countries are going to open their borders to climate refugees? It’s just a big mess. Bolivia is a great example of a country that is victim to climate change. I recently wrote an article about it. Check it out if you like. I’m including the link below.
http://cchronicle.com/2009/12/bolivia-facing-fatal-consequences-future-fortune/
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Eryn-Ashlei,
Great article! Bolivia has so much going on. Thanks for the feedback. My work keeps me deep in the climate change debate, so I’ll make sure to follow up this article with more updates.
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Eryn-Ashlei,
Great article about Bolivia! My work keeps me in the climate change debate, so I’ll be sure to keep posting more info about this topic. Thanks for the feedback.
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[...] People’s World Conference on Climate Change Share and Enjoy: [...]
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[...] People’s World Conference on Climate Change Share and Enjoy: [...]
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Climate Change is really scary, now we have super typhoons and a lot of flooding going on some countries..:~:
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it is very evident that climate change is already taking effect in this decade;:”
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