GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES | KOMMUNIKATION GLOBAL - 01 | 2009

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COUNTDOWN TO COPENHAGEN FairClimate Ambassadors' Poznan Diary By Anne Marie Kortleve and Suzanne Maas Anne Marie Kortleve and Suzanne Maas attended the UNFCCC climate conference in Poznan. Together with five other students they form the FairClimate ambassadors of Dutch development organisation. This diary was made available to the this magazine for international cooperation by the Utrecht-based ICCO. The two ambassadors introduce themselves. I am 26 years old, recently graduated from Wageningen University in Applied Communication Sciences. Nowadays I work for the Province of South Holland as secretary of several State Committees. In my spare time I am a FairClimate Ambassador, striving for a more fair and equitable climate for all. While visiting countries like Brazil and Ethiopia, I realised that developing countries are facing tremendous problems like droughts, famine and floods. I can not sit back and wait until something might happen, it is time to act! Anne Marie Kortleve Suzanne Maas I am 26 years old, recently graduated from Wageningen University in Applied Communication Sciences. Nowadays I work for the Province of South Holland as secretary of several State Committees. In my spare time I am a FairClimate Ambassador, striving for a more fair and equitable climate for all. While visiting countries like Brazil and Ethiopia, I realised that developing countries are facing tremendous problems like droughts, famine and floods. I can not sit back and wait until something might happen, it is time to act! I am a 22 year old student in environmental studies at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. I wish for a world without poverty, injustice, animal abuse and environmental destruction. In order to help achieve this goal I have been active in youth, animal rights and environmental movements and am currently advocating for a fair climate as a youth ambassador. I believe we have the power to change this world to make it more inclusive and sustainable and I am very happy to contribute to making this world a better place for all. Day 1, December 6: Climate action! On our first day in Poznan we hit the street. There is a big demonstration by NGOs and youth from all over the world to convince our political leaders that we need climate action and justice now! The streets are filled with polar bears, banners, ticking clocks and lots of demanding voices. The relevance of such a demonstration is clearly explained by one of the participants: “if there is a lot of pressure from the street, the political leaders will have to listen!” Day 2, December 7: You gotta have faith Sunday: not a day of rest at the climate conference, but surely a day of contemplation. We attend a meeting of the Climate Action Network and discuss the first week of the negotiations with NGO representatives. In their opinion it has mainly been a disappointment and they strongly express their hopes for developed countries to take a leading role in the following week of the climate negotiations, in order to secure that progress will be made at this Conference of the Parties (COP). Later that day we visit the climate church. Reverend Abramides preaches that we have to care for our environment. According to him, “if you take no action, knowing and considering the changes in our climate, it is a sin”. When asking people attending the service on how to address climate change, their solution is to have faith and act! Day 3, December 8: Like David and Goliath Today we spoke to Tosi, a member of the Congolese delegation. Congo is one of the least developed countries in the world and therefore vulnerable for disasters like droughts and famine. At the same time, this country is rich in minerals and tropical forest, crucial for the capture of CO2. . . . A fair international climate treaty is essential for countries like Congo. But with only two delegates in the conference, they are fighting a battle like David against Goliath. 26 KOMMUNIKATION GLOBAL | JANUAR 2009
COUNTDOWN TO COPENHAGEN Tosi often has to work from nine in the morning till 2 o’clock in the night. He can not attend all the meetings that are scheduled. Industrialized countries have over 20 delegates present at the conference and have the advantage of dividing the work and knowledge. Congo can not… Less represented as these developing countries are, they are fighting for proposals on combating and adapting to climate change, but unfortunately these are completely ignored by the developed countries. Let’s hope that during the week the negotiations will lead to something more constructive. Day 4, December 9: Politics in Warsaw At the same time the climate conference in Poznan is taking place, the European Union is gathered in Brussels to negotiate on their climate and energy package for the coming years. The results of this meeting will influence the outcomes of the UN conference on climate change to a big extent. If the EU will not come forward as a leader in the climate negotiations because they have not resolved their internal disputes, it will be unlikely that ambitious plans will be made in Poznan. That’s why today we leave Poznan and take the train to Warsaw, where prime ministers Merkel (Germany) and Tusk (Poland) – who are blocking the negotiations on the climate and energy package – are meeting to discuss climate change We join a demonstration in front of the presidential building to show that we find it very important that agreement on climate action is reached in Brussels and Poznan. Ben Wikler, who organized the demonstration, explains: “the negotiations in the EU affect the negotiations at the UN, and the negotiations at the UN determine humanity’s response to climate change. The decisions they make today affect the entire world”. He believes the world leaders have an opportunity to get the world cheering, by investing in clean solutions and the creation of green jobs. If they don’t do it, they are destroying their international reputation for years to come. ICCO'S FairClimate Ambassadors Day 5, December 10: Meeting our minister Jacqueline Cramer, the Dutch minister of the environment is also present in Poznan. Today we had the chance to meet her at the exhibition hall of the conference. Together we get a tour of innovative projects and energy solutions for the future. We even go for a dance with her to generate energy in the sustainable dance booth of Dutch danceclub Watt. We also interview her about statements and expectations of the conference. She says her main points are “to convince industrialized countries to cut in their emissions, and to assist developing countries that already experience the effects of climate change – such as droughts, floods and sea level rise – by providing money and knowledge for adaptation”. When asking what advice she would give the world on climate change, she states “the financial crisis is no excuse to put the climate crisis in the fridge!” We are glad she takes this point of view and hope she is able to convince the other developed countries of the importance to act now. Day 6, December 11: High level statements? Today the environmental ministers of over 190 countries arrived in Poznan to make their statements at the high level segment of the conference. Although some of the speeches are truly inspirational – such as the one by the minister of the environment of Denmark, encouraging world leaders to get serious about the need for a fair and effective Kyoto Protocol follow-up in Copenhagen next year – most of them are predictable or even boring. When listening to them, we get the feeling these speeches are little more than empty statements and we sincerely hope they get some real work done, so that the conference in Poznań can be reviewed as a successful milestone on the road to Copenhagen. Day 7, December 12: Wrapping up The impasse between developed and developing countries remains. Developed countries stress that they do not want to commit themselves to high emission reductions unless the developing countries (including booming countries such as China and India) agree on reductions as well. On the other hand, developing countries maintain their viewpoint that the industrialized world should take leadership and make efforts, since they are the ones who are historically (and currently for the greatest part) responsible for climate change. The EU does not take up its position as leader, but – after quarrelling internally on the energy and climate package – comes forward with a weakened proposal. The main outcome of the climate conference in Poznan is that more meetings are necessary. We are hugely disappointed and can only hope for and try to influence a more successful outcome of the conference in Copenhagen next year. But, as an inhabitant of Tuvalu so strikingly put: “we may not be around then anymore…” GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES � GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES | JANUARY 2009 27
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