With the heads of state arriving this week and only 4 days of the conference to go, it’s coming to crunch time at the negotiating table. Over the past few days it has been exciting to see big names such as Al Gore, Bill McKibbon from 350 and even Arnold Schwarznegger while walking around the conference centre! Kevin Rudd arrived yesterday and Barak Obama will be arriving Friday. Unfortunately the negotiations are stalling and there are most likely two possible outcomes at the end of the week:
- No legally binding treaty with the possibility that negotiations will be pushed even further into the future.
- A watered down legally binding treaty with loopholes and ways for countries such as Australia to cheat their way through emissions accounting.
These negotiations have the ability to turn into another photo opportunity, where the heads of states come together, talk for 60 hours, look as if they are doing something on climate change, but fail to create an agreement that will be successful in managing greenhouse gas emissions from around the world.
Yesterday evening, the Danish Prime Minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen delivered an inspirational speech to some of the leaders of the world. He talked about the fate of millions and the devastating effect that climate change is having on natural systems that we depend on.
This moment gave me a profound sense of urgency for serious, unified action. As negotiators sit in the rooms of the conference centre and discuss the nitty gritty details of a treaty, drought is enhanced by changing rainfall patterns in south-eastern Australia, the snowline of Mt Kilimanjaro recedes and the destruction of the world’s forests releases more carbon in the atmosphere.
Last night I met a well known rock band from Papua New Guinea who are here to perform two songs this evening inside the Bella Centre. I found it odd that they would come all this way, just to perform one 10 minute gig. Upon talking to the lead guitarist, my curiosity was dispelled through his message that his people and their livelihoods are at extreme risk from rising sea levels. It’s not just their land and possessions that they lose. They lose their reputation is society, their culture and the people that are close to them. A song was the best way for them to convey their message.
I was reminded of the critical importance of the conference and the need to illustrate our stories and our messages to world governments. This had me thinking of the people in my local community who have been impacted by climate change. In the aftermath of the Victorian bushfires that took the lives of two people in my local region, I assisted a local farmer with reconstructing fences that he’d lost. The loss of a something so simple, but so critical to his livelihood was devastating and the prospect of having to reconstruct was an overwhelming effort, particularly for this farmer who runs the farm on his own. Furthermore the knowledge that what has been reconstructed could be destroyed in following fire seasons is difficult to comprehend.
In the next few days, everyone around the world needs be pushing for a strong, fair agreement without the loopholes that rich nations look to as a way of fulfilling their targets, but not correctly account for their contribution.
Send a message to our Kevin Rudd who will play a key role in the next few days.
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5594/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=492
Creating change in the Australian government will create change in other nation’s governments and could snowball throughout the entire conference. All we need is ambition, responsibility and justice!
