AYCC SA volunteers get active and colourful outside Penny Wong's office in support of 100% renewable energy.

On Monday night five minutes before the AYCC SA State Monthly meeting, I received a message about the national push to get the required shift to 100% renewable energy onto the Labor party’s agenda for its unprecedented caucus meeting. The email asked me and other members to make calls to local Labor politicians.  As well as doing this, a group of keen bustling volunteers decided to take it a step further.

We planned to take our message to Senator Penny Wong’s office in two days.  After a rapid brainstorm, we knew all that was left to do was paint banners and reach as many people as possible before Wednesday morning.

An incredible group of volunteers spent the whole of Tuesday preparing media, fliers, banners, placards and of course reaching out to friends and other volunteers.

Arriving on Wednesday, I saw a group of over thirty people – who rallied at a day’s notice – ready to call upon Senator Wong to take up the cause of our future and support 100% renewable energy for Australia. It was an inspiring sight and a sign of how much the AYCC has grown in SA since it began leafletting train stations in early 2010.

We chanted loud enough to make sure that Senator Wong’s fourth floor office knew we were there.  We “mic checked” in the spirit of the occupy movement; our collective voice became more powerful as it reached passers by.  We handed out leaflets with the numbers of every Labor politician in South Australia and encouraged them to pick up the phone.

This week is a huge opportunity for us to amplify our voices to advocate for the policy of 100% renewable energy needed to secure a safe climate future.  Now more than ever, it is crucial that you pick up your phone and call your local Labor MP or Senator. Better yet get together with your friends and make the calls together, then paint some banners, call some more friends and pay a visit to their office!

We know this Sunday an agenda will be set, the first question is will our future be on it?  The second, more critical question, is what are we going to do to make sure it’s there?

We’re running a calling action to Labor MPs before the ‘ALP brainstorming session.’ Have you made the call?

Thanks to all who helped pull the action together at the last minute, Gemma Weedall from CLEAN SA for speaking and everyone who made it out at such short notice!

–– Daniel  Spencer, AYCC SA Coordinator

Our movement is not created through media coverage or celebrity endorsements, but through the hard work and dedication of young Australians in every corner of the country. In 2011, thousands of AYCC members took action in their communities, and because they did we now have more reason than ever to be optimistic about what the future holds.

Here are a few highlights from the past year at AYCC – we hope you enjoy them, and would love to hear your stories!

Dancing for a price on pollution

The first half of 2011 was about one thing: securing a price on pollution. The big polluters and vested interests ran a huge fear campaign against the carbon price.

But although they had millions of dollars in advertising and the backing of radio shock-jocks, they didn’t have Murray’s dance moves.

A day with the Deputy Prime Minister

During our campaign Meet Your Member we connected young people with their local MPs . But what happens when your local MP is the Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan?

Well, Gene from Swan’s electorate of Lilley decided to find out. A few weeks after they met in a shopping centre cafe to talk about the carbon price, Swan decided he wanted to meet with Gene again – this time in Canberra, for the Climate Commission’s public forum.

Here’s what Gene wrote on our blog:

“If you are someone reading this who cares about climate change, and you don’t know if you can make a difference let me tell you, straight up: you are wrong…We don’t know how the world will act, but what we can control is what we do ourselves. We have an opportunity in Australia – an opportunity to take the first of many steps to tackle this complex problem. We can’t just say it is all too hard, that maybe we will rock the boat too far and end up capsized in the water.”

Building a renewable energy future

At the end of the Meet Your Member campaign, we brought 100 AYCC members from all over the country to Canberra. On the final morning we pulled off a creative media action outside Parliament House – here’s an account from Joel, our South Australian State Co-ordinator at the time:

“At the end of the Meet Your Member campaign I did a road trip to Canberra with about 20 other South Australians, and we joined a total of 100 AYCC volunteers. One morning, the hundred of us woke up in the early hours and travelled in the dark to Parliament House, where we built our own solar thermal power plant.

It was a special moment – the next generation of Australians, who’d just spent months meeting their MPs, coming to Parliament House to share their vision for how Australia could be powered by clean, safe, baseload solar power. It began to rain but nothing could extinguish our smiles. I still remember the beautiful people I met then in Canberra, the connections that were made, and the beginnings of our movement to reclaim the future we deserve.”

Bringing together our Brisbane team

When we decided to hold a 1000 person Power Shift in Brisbane, we knew we wouldn’t be able to do it without a fantastic local team. Our on-the-ground members in Brisbane rose to the challenge, and built a huge network which didn’t just pull of Power Shift, but is now leading dozens of local AYCC groups across the state.

Our General Manager, Glen, was in Brisbane for one of the first meetings of the new team:

“They’d literally spent an entire week personally phoning every person in Brisbane who had ever opened an AYCC email and inviting them to a ‘Brisbane branch launch’. Then, on a Monday evening the launch actually happened and there were forty people packed into the little deck outside the Brisbane office – people who were completely new to AYCC but wanted to help make Power Shift happen. For the first time it really felt to me like it was going to be possible to pull off Power Shift.”

Ahri’s Power Shift speech

At Power Shift Brisbane we had some great high-profile speakers – everyone from Jessica Watson to Dick Smith and Kumi Naidoo. But for many of us the the most powerful speeches came from AYCC members – like Ahri Tallon, who relocated to Brisbane ahead of Power Shift to help us build our Queensland branch. His passionate words gave us chills and reduced more than a few of us to tears – here’s a favourite quote:

“We know we need a movement, and we’ve got one in the making. But what does it feel like? Movements feel like a spine-tingling jolt of positive energy, hope and optimism.”

Claire, Ewen and Benedict from the Pacific share their stories

We travelled to the UN climate talks in South Africa to continue to build the international youth climate movement. We learnt from incredible young campaigners from all over the world, saw the birth of the South African Youth Climate Coalition, and were reminded of just how urgent the climate crisis is.

Here are the stories of three young people from the Pacific who we met in Durban. For them, climate change is not just another political issue – it’s the critical problem that is threatening their survival.

Repower goes local

At Power Shift we launched Repower Australia, a campaign focused on starting the transformation we need to become a nation powered by 100% renewable energy. It started with a petition to the Government and the newly formed Clean Energy Finance Corporation, calling on the pledged $10 billion for clean energy to go to real renewables, not coal or gas.

In the weeks after Power Shift, we were blown away by just how many AYCC members hit the streets with our petition. In just two months we collected close to 20,000 signatures, and had tens of thousands of conversations in train stations, shopping centres, and at local community events. Here’s an awesome video from AYCC Macedon Ranges:

What was your favourite moment from 2011? Leave us a comment below!

Since October, thousands of young people have signed our petition and shared it with their friends, families, and neighbours. Thanks to the effort so many of you put in over the last few weeks, we were able to deliver over 17,000 signatures to Climate Change Minister Greg Combet in Durban!

So what happens now?

This petition is just the beginning. Now that the carbon price has been passed, 2012 is going to be all about investment in renewable energy – how much money is allocated, where it goes, and whether it includes dirty energy sources like gas. In 2012, we need to demonstrate to our politicians that our communities support a transition to 100% renewable energy.

That’s why in the second phase of our campaign to Repower Australia we’re going to partner with our local communities to transform them one pub, cafe, and supermarket at a time. And the best part is that getting local businesses to reduce their emissions will be easier than ever before, because we’ll be giving you all the resources and support you need.

The full Repower Australia website will be launching in early January. To be the first to find out when it launches, enter your name and email address below!

With not much media on the ground in Durban, and a hectic 48-hour ‘final day’ round of negotiations, there’s been a bit of confusion about the outcome. Here’s the lowdown from our policy director, Jane.

Durban wrapped up late on Saturday after a long push by Ministers and negotiators to finally broker a deal everyone was happy with.

The small island states, least developed countries, and the European Union were among those pushing hard to get a deal (while the US, Canada and many others were less willing to come to the table).

Crucially, the talks have delivered a timeline to design a new climate treaty covering all major emitters, including the US, China and India, no later than 2015, and to come into effect no later than 2020. This is the first time that countries have agreed to deliver a treaty on climate change that captures all their emissions reduction commitments in the one place.

Previously, the Kyoto Protocol covered only developed countries. This new treaty will cover all countries – this is a big step forward.

This means that the global community can now act be confident that when they implement domestic climate policies like Australia’s carbon price, they know that every major emitter around the world will be doing the same in the coming years.

There has also been agreement on getting money flowing into the Green Climate Fund so the world can start to finance adaptation and mitigation projects in developing countries.

Another key outcome from Durban is a deal to renew the Kyoto Protocol for a further 5 years – this is currently the world’s only legally binding emissions reduction treaty, and is due to expire at the end of 2012.

This all sounds pretty good right? Well, kind of. It’s a good step, however, it’s years too late. And, even if we agree to a legally-binding treaty now, with the emissions cuts that all countries have so far agreed to it will lead to 3-4 degrees of warming.

This was noted with “grave concern” in the Durban text, and countries have agreed to look at how they can reduce emissions more – to get us on a path to no more than 2 degrees of warming. However, whether this actually happens or not remains to be seen.

It has also been noted that the agreements around raised ambition will be informed by the next round of climate science reports to come from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in 2013-2015. For Australia, this would require raising our current target of 5% cuts in emissions from 2000 levels, to over 50% by 2020 if we are to play our fair share internationally.

Australia has not yet listed our emissions reduction targets in this new Kyoto protocol agreement, and we have until May 2012 to do so. We know now that ambition needs to be significantly higher if we are to get on track to less than 2 degrees warming. We also know now that all major emitters, including US, China and India, have committed sign on to legally binding emissions cuts to prevent catastrophic warming.

Major emitting countries showed us in Durban that they were ready to move. Now is the perfect time for Australia to raise our ambition, to kick start our renewables industry and to show our competitors and the world that we want to move out of the dirty industries of the past and to be part of the future global clean energy economy.

Today I was fortunate to meet with three young and energetic climate leaders – Alpha and Josh from Kenya, and Mathews from Zambia. They are volunteers with the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC) and helped organise and participated in the We Have Faith: Act Now for Climate Justice Caravan.

The story of the Caravan is truly inspiring. 161 young people from 17 different countries travelled across the African continent to educate, inspire and mobilise young people to take action on climate change.

The organisers were inspired by the Indian Youth Climate Network, who travelled across their country in 2009 with a similar goal. The young African organisers thought they could create a similar Climate Caravan, to begin in Nairobi, Kenya and end up in Durban, South Africa for the start of UN climate talks.

Alpha, Josh and Mathews packed only the necessities and left their jobs and studies behind. Their trip took 17 days and the group filled 6 trucks. They stopped at communities in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa picking up other young people along the way. They held over 10 concerts, one filmed live and broadcast on television, performing music, dancing and telling stories of climate impacts from their home countries.

They also had thousands of conversations about climate change in local communities, collecting petition signatures for a fair, ambitious and binding climate deal. Through direct engagement and media along the way, it is estimated they connected with over 3 million Africans.

Mathews told me about challenges they faced en route to Durban – pythons hissed around their necks at night and rain flooded their tents. All their belongings were drenched and they had to sleep in the trucks on several nights. Despite this, what they saw on their travels motivated them to persist with the journey. They encountered communities that were directly impacted by the effects of climate change – people lacking access to fresh water or enough food.

Alpha also spoke about the African continent’s vulnerability to the effects of climate change. He explained that people from countries like Somalia in the Horn of Africa have suffered extreme famine as a result of crop failure. They have been forced to leave their homes and stay Kenyan refugee camps, sometime over 2 000 people arrive in one day. These people are climate refugees.

Josh told me about an expression from his language, “chaffua”, which translates to “spoil it, make a difference”. He explained that it means you should not sit down and accept the problem of climate change, but break out of your comfort zone and create change. He felt that all young people were powerful change agents.

This sentiment was echoed by Alpha, who was driven to join the caravan because he believes that climate change is too urgent a problem to wait until tomorrow to act. He put leisure and comfort behind to elevate the voice of young people in the climate debate.

While speaking to these young people, I found they had something important in common. That is the hope they have for Africa and for a safe climate future. What unites them is the committed they have to translating that hope into reality.

Their hope and commitment is shared by the hundreds of young people from over 50 countries here at the UN climate talks. They are optimistic and strong willed, which is truly unique in this international forum, where negotiators can be negative and progress slow. Young people across the world really do have a positive vision for their future – a safe climate.

The young people I have met are not naive, they know that protecting our future is not going to be easy. That is why they are committed to building a movement powerful enough to solve climate change.

Alpha, Josh and Mathews have made incredible friends on their journey, both on the Caravan and here in Durban. They hope these relationships continue to build the movement in Africa and internationally. They remind us all that we are capable of incredible things. Things like solving climate change.

This year, the AYCC has the honour of hosting the awards at the UN climate talks in Durban, and one of our delegates, Isaac Astill, has the task of presenting them each evening. Check out this great behind-the-scenes video as we prepare to present the first Fossil of the Day award at COP17!

Today I met 24-year-old Monica Christoffels, a student from the state of Oregon in the United States. Earlier this year, Monica became concerned about the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline was being proposed to carry oil extracted from the tar sands of Alberta in Canada to oil refineries in the United states. This would have led to the release of unprecedented levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. James Hansen, NASA’s top climatologist said that opening the tar sands would be “game over for the climate”. So, Monica joined the movement to stop the pipeline.

Along with thousands of others, she participated in the historic ‘Tar Sands Action’ in August outside the White House. Their message was simple – that President Obama should reject the Keystone XL pipe line. Monica was one of the 1,253 people who were arrested as a result of participation in the Tar Sands Action. As a result, the pipeline, which was considered a ‘done deal’ has been delayed and is likely to be cancelled completely.

I asked Monica about why she cared about climate change and what propelled her to be brave and put her body on the line. She explained that learning about the detrimental effects of the extraction of tar sands oil on access to clean water, forests and people’s lives was life-changing. Moreover, she feels that young people will stand to lose the most if inadequate action is taken to prevent climate change.

As someone with the resources and the capability, Monica felt she had the responsibility to take action against the Keystone XL pipeline. She also felt her participation was important because the media was not fully bringing attention to the harmful effects of tar sands extraction on people and the environment.

Monica travelled from her home in Eugene, Oregon, to Washington in order to participate in the Tar Sands Action. An 85-year-old lady generously offered her car to anyone wanting to go to the Tar Sands Action, and Monica jumped at the opportunity. She took the car and followed a caravan of people across the United States. The journey took a week.

Along the way, the caravan made stops in Utah, Nebraska and West Virginia, where they stayed with families supportive of the cause. They also used the opportunity to learn about the effects of oil extraction, fracking and mountain top removal on local communities they visited. They witnessed the effects of wildlife removal and water contamination on Indigenous people, who are no longer able to rely on traditional food sources as they have done for thousands of years. As a result of polluted river water, the fish are poisonous and consequently cancer has started to show in children and adults.

For Monica, the journey shed light on issues surrounding resource extraction in addition to climate change. From her experience, Monica was resolute that young people have a crucial role in solving these issues. She is committed to holding decision-makers accountable for their policies and reminding them that it is our future that is at stake.

It was beautiful to hear Monica’s story of bravery and selflessness. She hopes her story and the ‘Tar Sands Action’ inspires other young people to get active on climate change and protect all which we have to lose.

Since arriving in Durban, I have been so fortunate to sit and have coffee with some of the most committed and proactive young climate campaigners from all over the world. For me, meeting these young people has been the most inspiring part of the climate talks. These success stories are proof that the International Youth Climate Movement is gaining momentum, and that in young people we have the powerful force we need to solve climate change.