By Duncan MacKenzie

So much, and yet so little, has happened since the end of last week at Copenhagen. The rifts between developed and developing countries are still festering. 100,000 people marched in Copenhagen alone on Saturday to demand a deal, but many inside the conference centre remarked how little attention or concern was paid to them. Analysis by Climate Interactive suggests that current pledges by developed countries would put the world on a path towards 770 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere – almost double current levels and an increase on today’s levels over six times larger than what the EU is proposing. Such a level would lead to catastrophic climatic changes – much more frequent and severe droughts, famines, floods and storms and significant sea-level rises – according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and others including the British Met Office’s Hadley Centre. At the same time, research by Friends of the Earth suggests that loopholes in the Kyoto Protocol, such as ‘hot air’ or unused emissions rights, maritime and aviation emissions, forestry and offsets, some of which are counted twice, could render the current emissions targets of developed countries useless from the atmosphere’s point of view, and could effectively more than halve a target of 40%, the minimum advocated by most environmental organisations for 2020.

As this political impasse is provoking high levels of protest and tension, as the ministers and heads of government arrive in Copenhagen, so the UN bureaucracy is progressively excluding civil society from the conference. Organisations had been told that yesterday and today, only a small proportion of their registered participants would be permitted to enter, which has already caused protest. Today, however, Friends of the Earth International and other organisations including Avaaz have been completely blocked. Negotiations this morning between the Chair of Friends of the Earth International, Nnimmo Bassey, and Yvo de Boer, the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, were fruitless. In any event, the UNFCCC’s Secretariat plans only to admit much-reduced numbers of NGO delegates tomorrow and just 90 on Friday, the final day of the conference, leaving themselves vulnerable to accusations of exclusivity and opaqueness just when key states like the US say that Copenhagen will deliver a ‘transparent’ and ‘credible’ outcome.

None of this must distract attention from the political dealings. The lack of trust between developed and developing countries was highlighted yesterday when the Swedish Environment Minister said that developing countries could be ‘turned’ to the will of the developed world if just five key people were influenced by Saudi oil money, and again when African delegates and key developed countries caused negotiations on the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol to be suspended because neither side would agree to talk about the other’s pet subjects. Needless to say, Japan, the US and Sweden were refusing to discuss binding Kyoto targets since their aim is to create a watered-down Copenhagen protocol including the USA and the key developing countries of China, India and Brazil.

Of course, developed countries will attempt to label whatever outcome is stitched together at the last minute as a ‘success’. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Let us not judge the book by its cover.

When I came here I had trust that a strong, fair and just climate deal was possible.

Politicians and businessmen might not be the fastest or most progressive, but I figured that they are human beings also and surely would see the necessity to act now on climate change and pay the Global South restitution. One week later my ideas have changed, let me tell you my experience in Kopenhagen so far.

The ‘Bella’ Centre

Imagine hallways connecting other hallways great and small, islands full of laptops, hot-dog stands and hundreds of charcoal suited officials with blackberry’s, fat men eating chicken and the occasional screaming of young people and Africans. I welcome you to the place where the world is going to be saved! O wait.. but laptops, hot-dogs and white men in suits is usually not a good thing for the planet, isn’t it? Well naïvely idealistic sucker, you are wrong! You see we are going to solve the mistakes we made by making a totally new market of carbon credits. We will start with so many credits that they are pretty cheap, and give them away to companies, o hail to the great companies. Furthermore we are suggesting some full on subsidies on plantations in the global South. Because we know we need to reduce C02-lonialism- emissions, just not in our own countries. You see that is impossible because the God of economic progress says so. Furthermore we suggest that you keep on shopping using our very environmentally friendly bags made from recycled plastic!

If you do that, then we will have some more delegate meetings, networking parties and business conferences on your money. The late great Einstein once said that you can’t solve a problem with the same consciousness that created it, and my gosh.. he might be right on that one!

The peoples summit

While our leaders discuss in the Bella Centre, we come to the Klimaforum. A place where people gather for lectures, workshops, movies, meetings and the occasional party.

The criticism of the process in the Bella Centre is growing day by day here and on the streetmarches. ‘System change not climate change’ is a much heard creed. Concerned citizens and outlaws join here to share their concern on the way PachaMama is being treated and formulate fundamental ways of change. Lets join up in the streets and in the rooms of the Klimaforum, combine our forces with the people of the world and make this world better so that we all can live free from pollution and downpression. If we do not take the opportunity to make this world, I’m afraid that the people in the Bella Centre will break it before they have realized it.

There is no planet B,

See you on the streets!

A friend of the Earth.

When attending a COP it’s easy to feel lost and alienated. But having Yvo de Boer holding the Young FoEE demandsfor Annex 1 countries did brighten up the day yesterday.

This morning the Action Team ran a teaser action for the Flood for Climate Justice which will be taking place tomorrow. Dressed up in blue ponchos, we occupied a cool spot at the entrance of the media room and put up messages on placards which denounced offsetting and invited people to join the Flood for Climate Justice tomorrow at 10 am at the Klimaforum. There was one particular delegate who was quite irritated by our message that offsetting is a false solution. Offsetting ISN’T a solution for the climate crisis though: emissions should be reduced domestically and not by investing in projects in developing countries. The only truth about offsetting is that it is a magic tric which proves the refusal of industrialised countries to take up their historical responsibility!

“I actually completely reject the notion of a debt or reparations or anything of the like,” said Jonathan Pershing, head of the US delegation this morning. “For most of the 200 years since the Industrial Revolution, people were blissfully ignorant of the fact that emissions caused a greenhouse effect. It’s a relatively recent phenomenon.” Saying so, he didn’t think of the fact that the very existence of some affected communities is in peril and he didn’t talk about the sea level rise and extreme droughts which are threatening whole countries. I think that not ANY head of delegation or ANY annex 1 country has the right to deny climate debt. The USA have the capacity to pay its debt and it just should not shy away from its responsibility!

This morning the policy group also dropped our “position paper in a bottle” in the
postboxes of the different delegations. The policy team is very closely following the negotiations and helping to develop a common youth position. Later today the Act Now team will run again a flood teaser action at the Klimaforum to encourage more people to join in the Flood for Climate Justice tomorrow.

The European Heads of State are meeting for 2 days in Brussels.! They are discussing climate change and emissions targets for the EU and this will have serious implications for the ongoing international talks here in Copenhagen!

The European Union has to date committed to a 20% emission cut by 2020, and pledged to increase this to 30% conditional on the commitments made by other countries. BUT! Both targets are inadequate and include huge amounts of ineffective tricks such as offsetting, so they would not enable a just solution to the climate crisis.

So. To show delegates here in Copenhagen that the EU should UP its targets and that it’s really the moment to ACT in Brussels, we did a cool action at the entrance of the Bella Center! Every time the metro arrived and flood out delegates towards the entrance, we raised our banners and balloons with the message “Up Your Targets! It’s Up to You!” Because of the cold and the huge amount of vibring energy in our team, the shouting soon turned into a kind of groovy rap, and according to the raising smiles on the faces, passing delegates seemed to enjoy and support it!

But let’s hope it doesn’t get as cosy and comfortable in Brussels. To prevent dangerous climate change, Europe must take AMBITIOUS action on both emission cuts and climate finance for the most vulnerable people in the world and for future generations – we!

The other highlight of the day was the policy briefing Young Friends of the Earth held at the Klimaforum!As it was the ‘Young and Future Generations’s Day’, Young Friends of the Earth gave the briefing for the people at the Klimaforum onwhat’s happening inside the Bella Center on the policy level, together with the Federation of Young European Greens. Three of us starred on the stage of the Orange Room, watched by a crowd of at least 70 people!

What we all want to know here: numbers and targets, which show how much Annex I countries want to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. So, let’s have a look at those numbers!

The United States now have 17% on the table, but with 2005 as baseline year instead of 1990.
Since their emissions have risen with 15% from 1990, this actually means a reduction of only 3% by 1990. The EU goes for a reduction of 20%, a target they will raise to 30% if there is an agreement in Copenhagen. Though 30 % seems good, it isn’t enough. Scientists today say that we have to reduce our emissions with at least 40% by 1990 to have a 50% chance to stay under a global warming of 2°C. A recent report of Friends of the Earth International showed that a 40% reduction in Europe is possible, even without offsetting, without nuclear or any other false solution! Then we have the Russian Federation: they put a 25% reduction-target on the table with 1990 as the baseline year. In yesterday’s meeting of the Kyoto Protocol however, they commented that this number is not for the Kyoto Protocol. So, what where they doing there? Doesn’t it seem logic to put a number on the table for the Kyoto Protocol in a Kyoto Protocol meeting about numbers? Anyway,
Australia is maybe the most appropriate to end this list with: they proposed a ridiculous 5%-reduction with 2000 as the baseline year, which compared to 1990 means even an increase by 13%!

As you can see, we’re not yet arriving where we should. We need better numbers: a reduction of at least 40% by Annex I countries, and this without offsetting, as this mechanism doesn’t ensure additional cuts. They don’t bring them welfare, they rob local communities from their land and from their independence.

To support the demand from developing countries to move forward on the Annex I target discussions, we repeated the target action we already did in Barcelona, but now in the middle of the Bella Center! We were standing in two lines, through which delegates had to pass, wearing targets and urging delegates we want to see ambitious action from industrialised countries. While shouting “offsetting, offsetting, it’s a lie” and distributing stickers demanding Annex I countries to go for a reduction target of at least 40% by 2020, loads of us where interviewed by international media! And on top of all of that, we even did a walk through the big hall at the entrance of the media center, where people spontanously starting applauding, supporting our call for climate justice!

Because that’s what we are here for. To let the industrialised countries know they can and SHOULD do better. Because it is our future.

This conference is forcing me to learn about a thousand new abbreviations, or that’s what it seems like. I have now been in the policy group of the Act Now team for about half a year. Luckily our team has a pretty clear idea of what we are doing and everyone has a specific focus. This weekend I decided that my main area would be LULUCF. Next to this, there are loads more of interesting things to do, attend, produce and keep track of, all of which we also try to do. And of course, try to have some influence on the delegates and outcome of the negotiations!

Welcome to abbreviation land: LULUCF (Land-Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry) is part of the AWG-KP (Ad hoc Working Group on further commitments for Annex 1 parties under the Kyoto Protocol). I went to some of the meeting yesterday of NGO’s (Non Governmental Organizations) to learn about this topic, which was a good choice!

All developed countries that are part of the Kyoto Protocol (Annex 1) have submitted their proposals for reference levels last week, although the EU did not send it in completely. Almost all countries want to use a projected (2050) reference level, instead of using the ‘normal’ historical 1990 levels. But this is tricky! Using the projected emissions is the politically “easy” way out and is beneficial for many of the EU countries (especially Austria, Sweden, France, Germany and the UK) that will benefit, potentially generating carbon credits or avoiding additional emissions. Additionally, the LULUCF emissions or credits are not taken into account in the accounting of the 20% reduction target of the EU , but only in the 30% which the EU will take on if Japan, Australia, the United States and Canada present even ‘ambitious’ targets. Since LULUCF is a carbon sink in most of Europe, including this mechanism reduces about 3% of emissions that can suddenly be accounted for with no additional reduction!

But not only policy-news today! We also did a very cool action together with Friends of the Earth International: a useless magician trying to make a plane disappear by covering them with a black cloth, and using an offsetting spell. Obviously this didn’t work, the same way offsetting doesn’t work! The magician had a pretty Young Friends of the Earth assistant who handed out information to people why offsetting is a false solution to the climate crisis. The action attracted a lot of attention, we did it three times, two times on the NGO spot and then at the entrance of the media center, where constantly a looot of people are walking by.

7 December : first day of the conference! The Bella Center has opened his doors and will be swallowing 30 000 delegates a day from all over the world during the next two weeks! It’s huge and massive, but Young Friends of the Earth is here and we are ready to rock! We’re all together again – the thirthy of us – from all the corners of Europe, with the policy team, the action group and the media people ready to tell you what is happening both inside the Bella Center (the place where the official summit is taking place) and at the Klimaforum. The Klimaforum is the alternative conference, the ‘conference of the people’, where you don’t have to show your accreditation card to get in. An amazing forum where every single person is welcome: indigenous people, environmental organisations, labour unions, human rights organisations, youth, women organisations… It’s going to be a sparkling forum with lectures, concerts, film-evenings, daily briefings about what is happening in the Bella Center, and many many more. Tonight is the official opening with Naomi Klein and Nnimmo Bassey, the chair of Friends of the Earth International speaking! This is the place where it is possible to shout out loudly what is so difficult to convince delegates about in the conference: that we want an agreement that is socially, politically, ecologically and economically just and compliant with human rights! We’ll call for Climate Justice – a reversal of the historical responsibility for human induced climate change through massive emissions reductions in the Global North, reparation of the climate debt and equitable sharing of the Earth’s resources in recognition of all peoples’ and future generations’ right to a dignified life within ecological limits! You’ll read and watch it all here!

On 17^th November, a group of us from Young Friends of the Earth met with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in the UK. We met Peter Betts, the head of negotiations at Copenhagen. Coming away from the meeting, we were left with the main message of hope; that we should still have high expectations for Copenhagen.

We had many questions for the UK negotiators at DECC. We asked how the UK are going to meet the 80% cuts in emissions by 2050. Katie Elliot from DECC (who had previously herself worked for Friends of the Earth) urged us to the read the government’s ‘Low Carbon Transition Plan’ to see their policies and plans for reaching those targets.

When we asked about the expected outcome, the representatives from DECC told us that a ‘political’ deal was expected but this would have legal consequences; it would be handed to lawyers to make it legal in 1 or 2 months. Peter Betts told us that we should not be influenced by the recent media to lower our expectations, and there was still hope for Copenhagen so we must remain optimistic.

They also signalled their support for developing countries and said the EU would walk out of any deal that is bad for the most vulnerable countries. All these words were positive and we hoped they would be fulfilled and turn into concrete action. However, as we were leaving the building, we noticed that the DECC building is ‘F’ Energy Rated, which reminded us the UK has an extremely long way to go, beyond words and targets. We hoped Copenhagen will be the first step.

Great new full day full!

There are no less than four FoE events going on today. A photo exhibit and concert organised by FoE Spain; a press release on Climate witnesses taking the concept of climate change to the level of social structures; FOEI’s side event against carbon trading and the release of our new report ‘A Dangerous Obsession’. An ‘Annex I states of Carbon Traders’ – dollar was made to promote the event. We started of this morning by handing them out to delegates, asking things like ‘Hi sir/madame, would you like a carbon dollar? Yes? Well, in that case you’d like to be aware of their negative consequences on the climate. We would like to invite you to our side event, where we’ll explain more about it!’

In between following meetings, press conferences and side events we prepared our tomorrow’s action. As tomorrow being the last day of climate talks before the true ‘exam’ in Copenhagen and so little progress made, we decided to help

country delegates out by writing progress reports for them. That way they know where they need to work on, revising for the final exams in Copenhagen. There’s no excuse for no succeeding in Copenhagen……and Young Friends of the Earth Europe does not accept the lowering of ambitiouns that seem to be happening this week!

Now we are taking off to the fundraising concert for Friends of the Earth Spain - all proceeds to the Big Ask climate campaign!

I love the way we are visible - even in Barcelona’s music scene !