An official negotiation meeting at the Copenhagen climate talks. Photo from Johannes Jansson/norden.org
Many people from the Oakland/East Bay traveled to Copenhagen including Laney College’s Green Jobs Program Coordinator, Emily Courtney, who travelled to observe the proceedings and atmosphere.
“It was amazing just how many dedicated people there were,” described Emily. “I met people on the bus ride to the conference center. You wait in the registration line and meet somebody else. Then you met the person you sat next to, and another person a lunch, and another new person on bus ride out. And it was like that everyday.”
Andy Katz (a member of the Board of Directors at East Bay Municipal Utility District and the chair of the California Sierra Club), wrote a clear summary of the Conference’s outcome:
The Copenhagen Accord is potentially a breakthrough in the sense that the United States joined with parties that have never come to the table with reductions – China, India, and Australia – on a statement of “the scientific view that the increase in global temperature should be below 2 degrees Celsius,” and that “deep cuts in global emissions are required according to science.”
However, many small Island states and African nations have called for a maximum of 1.5 degree Celsius increase to protect their peoples’ survival.
Nancy Skinner wrote movingly of her many conversations with people from all over the world. Yet she always keeps her eye on California:
On the flight home, I met a climate modeler formerly with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who had just joined with other scientists to form a new non-profit. The purpose of his new organization is to let us, the public, know how climate change is impacting us right now. His research shows that California’s increase in wildfires is directly traceable to climate change and that we should expect this wildfire trend to continue. Our state’s water resources are also affected. Global warming is not just a concern of the future!
Michelle Mascarenhas-Swan, from Movement Generation, was in touch with delegates and others developing nations and wrote about the Sustainability Justice movement:
The Copenhagen round of the UNFCCC 15th Conference of Parties has ended in failure It is essential for the future of life on this planet that we achieve a global pact based on sound science and equity soon. But given that the U.S. and its key allies were not willing to consider a fair and binding agreement, it is highly encouraging to see that social movements and many third world nations successfully united behind the slogan, “No deal is better than a catastrophic deal.”
Mary Rose Taruc , of Asian-Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), shared what it was like to be part of an organized international community:
The early winter cold of Copenhagen turns my face into a popsicle, but all I had to do was join the “Flood for Climate Justice” march of a hundred thousand energetic people from around the world to feel warm. A 4 mile, 4+ hour mobilization is enough to keep anyone from freezing. Signs of hope/despair: “There is no planet B,” “Nature doesn’t compromise,” to “systems change, not climate change.”
