I went to the UN Climate Negotiations in Poznan in December as an International Youth Delegate, hoping to help sway the negotiators from their positions of bad science and inaction to build our future in consultation with young people.
But, day by day, bad news filtered through to the IYD: the US, Canada and New Zealand voted against keeping the clause protecting indigenous peoples’ rights in the policy on deforestation; Australia decided not to announce their emissions reductions targets until after the conference.…
With the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), IYD launched “Project Survival”. Using 350ppm and 1.5ºC warming as targets, over 80 countries signed a pledge committing to the “survival of all countries and peoples”.
Back in Wales, I’ve given a number of talks on the experience. And I’m ready to take on the UK government! Not least foreign secretary Ed Miliband, whom we met in Poznañ.
Now is the time to act. The UK will go to the Copenhagen climate conference in December with its remits set.
So: write to MPs and the Department of Energy and Climate Change, advocating solutions, feeding them a vision of our future. Then, join the convergence on Copenhagen to make our presence felt. If not us, who?