Applications are now open for this year’s climate negotiations in Cancun this December.  We welcome anybody to apply who is passionate about youth engagement and climate change.

Last year in December, what was dubbed the biggest conference in human history took place in Copenhagen. 40 000 people registered for the conference and thousands more were in Copenhagen over two weeks of intense negotiations. Copenhagen put climate change on the newspapers, television screens and web pages in a way we had never seen it before.

Throughout the conference, the New Zealand Youth Delegation worked hard to engage with young people and represent their voices.

At the end of it all, leaders produced an agreement which did not meet the hopes, let alone the needs, of the world. However we need to realise that Copenhagen was just a stepping stone to bigger things.

This December, the next step is being taken in Cancun, Mexico. Once again, leaders will be negotiating the future of our planet. In Cancun it is critical that the youth are engaged once again.

This is an opportunity to be a part of the delegation for Cancun. Apply at www.youthdelegation.org.nz.
NZ Youth Delegate 2009

We wish you all the best in your application.

Trashing our Image: Clean, Green and Dirty

This morning I was sitting in Copenhagen when New Zealand’s name popped up in the most unexpected and unfavourable way. I was sitting in the Fresh Air Centre, an area where NGO’s and people from around the world meet to discuss issues, receive news updates and communicate back to their members and followers. As I listened to the daily updates, New Zealand was given a thrashing for its inaction on climate change.

When I decided to come to the climate change negotiations in Copenhagen I came representing a country which I was proud of. Us New Zealanders love our country and the lifestyle it offers us. In particular, we love that we are clean and we are green. The image of New Zealand’s beautiful mountains and crystal clear lakes is plastered across every travel brochure produced. More than being a travel brochure, this image represents our values – we are a people who are proud to stand up for the environment, proud that we have preserved much of our native forest, proud that we protect our beautiful beaches from development.

So what has gone wrong? How can it be that we have slipped from a country promising to go carbon zero in 2007, to being one of the worst countries at the negotiations in 2009? It is reasonably simple: our current Government ran an election where they openly stated that they would not be leaders on climate change. We, the people of New Zealand, elected that Government. Now we are feeling the consequences.

The bigger question, however, is what these consequences look like. Will our clean, green image be forever lost? First, let us be very clear about just how bad New Zealand’s approach to climate change is. Problem one is that New Zealand’s emissions per capita are already high. This means we have a special obligation to reduce our emissions.

This brings us to problem two: New Zealand’s Government target is 10-20% by 2020, but even the 10% target is conditional, meaning New Zealand will reduce by less than 10% if they do not get what they want in Copenhagen (See John Key’s statements in Parliament here). Given the European Union, encompassing 27 countries, has pledged 20-30%, we are far behind. Many developing countries are calling for 40% reductions by 2020. Indeed, it is only Canada, Australia and the US who have targets as low – hardly an esteemed group to compare ourselves to when it comes to environmental records.

Now, of course, New Zealand’s clean green image could remain untarnished. Maybe, just maybe, our tourism sector has a slick enough marketing scheme to avoid the destruction of the image. Unfortunately, this is not what I have seen in Copenhagen.

The best response I have heard is ambivalence. People simply do not know and do not care about New Zealand. This is because in the scale of things we are small. It seems John Key is depending on this, as the New Zealand Government has consistently tried to keep its head down over here. Even this response is not ideal – people not knowing about us means we avoid harm, but it hardly brings us any favours.

What is the worst response I have heard? Shock, anger and frustration at a country who markets itself as clean and green while taking a negotiating position which is incredibly weak. A good example of this was when New Zealand was recently given a third place Fossil of the Day award here in Copenhagen. Other prominent names to receive this award are the USA, Canada and Saudi Arabia. Once again, it does not seem like we are putting ourselves on the right side of the climate debate.

And that is exactly what this debate is all about. Even if you think that Copenhagen is full of people with an environmental bias who are unduly harsh on New Zealand, then surely we should take a strong stance on this issue because it is right. It is right to take responsibility for our pollution. It is right to embrace green technology at a time when Europe and much of Asia is exploding with green business. Indeed, the only reason we ever receive more than an ambivalent response from people is that we do punch above our weight.

Essentially, we cannot afford not to act on climate change. The worst case scenario is that people become thoroughly disillusioned with New Zealand and its image. In doing so we lose tourism, but most importantly we lose a key part of our sense of identity. In the best case scenario we keep our heads down and are ignored by the world. As a small country, we cannot afford to be forgotten by the world. This is without even mentioning the actual environmental consequences for New Zealand. Let us hope our political leaders can start making the right decisions. Or if they do not, then we as individuals must start to take responsibility.

An open letter to John Key

Copenhagen is a mess. Developing countries are furious at back-room negotiations which have produced the “Copenhagen Accord. While some media have fallen for the spin and called this an ambitious move, most know it for what it is: an empty, non-binding statement which was created by a few rich countries at with no regard to UN process (Search Guardian, BostonGlobe for more details on this Accord).

Rather than give you a full update, I am going to attach below an e-mail I recently sent to John Key…

Dear Prime Minister John Key,

I just heard about the “Copenhagen Accord” which has been released. While obviously some progress is good, this Accord is a shambles. Reading the document, I am incredulous at the ambiguity which you encounter at every turn. It states that we need to keep warming within 2 degrees, and yet provides no targets for 2020, no base year, and almost no framework of any variety.

I hate to hinder progress, but I feel unable to support an Accord which will only serve as an excuse for less action as leaders pretend that Copenhagen has been a success.

It was heart-warming to read that you yourself believe the Accord has a long way to go, and that it needs to be legally binding. That attitude is great, it would be even better to see you supporting some fair and ambitious language while you are at it.

I look forward to hearing more, and hope you managed to get some sleep after a long night in the Bella Centre.

Kind regards,

Louis Chambers

Copenhagen in Crisis

As I write this the situation is bleak in Copenhagen. The talks are confused and chaotic, and there is little clear direction being shown. However, there is still time. Kyoto was negotiated in the last twelve hours in the dead of the night. Bali was only successful after the US made a last minute concession and switched their position.

I will keep this short. All I will say is that right now we need to show all the solidarity we can:

- E-mail/tweet/facebook your Prime minister – call for their action.
- Sign the Avaaz/TckTckTck petition here.

Who knows what will happen in the next few hours. One thing’s for sure, this conference is so important that we cannot afford not to try.

Craziness in Copenhagen

It is impossible to capture the diversity of the Copenhagen negotiations in one blog. There is a city packed full of climate change seminars, events and displays. There are hundreds of businesses, NGO’s and universities offering regular talks and lectures. Even if you make it to the negotiations, they are so formal and detached that the human lives behind climate change are forgotten. The challenge is to stay focussed in the face of masses of information, numerous distractions and a negotiating process which reduces a critical moral issue down to numbers and data.

The first thing to realise is that the term “Copenhagen negotiations” is misleading. There is so much more going on other than just negotiations. For example, there have been incredible speeches from the likes of Desmond Tutu and Bill McKibben (the founder of 350). Unfortunately I did not see either of these speakers: I was too busy at the host of other events available. There are events looking at climate change in almost every context, from human rights to business, local government to youth.

If these events and speakers do not capture your imagination, then the negotiations themselves should. The negotiations bring together 192 countries from every corner of the world. When I first sat in the “plenary session”, the sheer number of countries blew my mind. The discussions took me on a tour of the globe as my geography was tested by the numerous countries awaiting their turn to speak.

However, in the excitement of the negotiations, I realised that what is important is to keep focussed on the reality of climate change. That reality is that behind all awe and the fun, all the men in suits, there are human lives being negotiated. As the International Youth Climate Movement often says: “Survival is not negotiable”. This realisation symbolises a process which occurs here. We are blown away by the information, the glamour and the opportunity. Yet in the same instant we realise that the magnitude of the challenge faced is incredible.

People power can still drive political change here in Copenhagen

The difficulty I have had in these negotiations is that Governments themselves lose this perspective. They become lost in all the numbers and the data. They also become lost in the world of politics. As different countries try to “win” the political game, they forget why we are all here.

Why are we all here? As young people, we have been able to remind Governments that we are here to negotiate our future. Behind all the numbers and all the politics is a stark choice. If we cannot keep global warming below 2 degrees, we are effectively choosing to erase any hope of a safe, not to say prosperous, future.

Of course, even simple goals like keeping warming below 2 degrees are not easy. In order to reach this goal, you do need the economic models and the complex data. You do need politicians who can negotiate.

The problem is that so far in these negotiations politicians seem to have become so immersed in how to reach the goal that they have forgotten why the goal itself is so important. As the New Zealand Youth Delegation, we have been working hard to keep the importance of the goal fresh in their minds. As we run out of time to reach an agreement, you can do this too.

Send a love letter to John Key at www.dearjohn.co.nz. We are currently delivering letters from this site in person to John Key. Or join 12.5 million other people from around the world in calling for a fair, ambitious and binding agreement here in Copenhagen – click here.

After all, we are the ones who give leaders the power to lead. Currently, the draft text is confused and complicated. It is no surprise given the complexity of issues here in Copenhagen. However, Kyoto was negotiated at the last minute. With over 110 leaders here in Copenhagen now, we certainly have enough political will to produce the result the world wants and which our future generations need.

Wading into the Wonderful World of Policy

Before we came to Copenhagen many people told us that a conference like this would be so confusing and crazy that hardly anyone would know what was going on. It seems that prophesy has finally come true. With back-room negotiations, NGO’s and civil society being barred entry and changes occurring by the minute, it is difficult for anyone to keep up.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer

As I have written earlier, the key thing to remember is that behind all this complexity there are simple realities: leaders are making decisions which affect lives. This slogan is summed up by the International Youth Climate Movement – “survival is not negotiable”. This is why it is so important that we help our leaders to make the right decisions in these critical days. One great way to do this is to make sure you have signed this petition.

However, if you do want to delve into the nasty world of negotiations over here, then here goes… Basically, the two broad groups of issues are how to reduce emissions and how to pay for the consequences of emissions. Even if we take action now, developing nations will suffer significantly from the consequences of emissions. Developing nations want compensation for the costs of this (dubbed “adaptation”). Estimates put these costs in the range of $50 – $200 billion per year.

The bigger issues, however, centre around how countries should actually reduce their emissions in the first place. There are a host of issues here:

• How much developed countries should reduce: 25-40% is the ideal amount, but New Zealand, Australia, the United States and Canada are dragging their heels;
• What sectors should be included: Agriculture in New Zealand is the big one, but certain countries (including New Zealand) have also been working hard to exclude carbon emissions from logging; - How to help the developing world transition to a low-carbon future: sharing of technology and finance are on the table;
• Whether developed countries should be able to “buy” credits by investing in forestry or green technology in developing countries: this is good in theory, but has the potential to become an easy escape route for developed countries who want to keep on polluting;
• How to ensure that developing countries reduce their emissions too: currently developing countries have lower emissions, but many developed countries are demanding monitoring of developing countries (especially China and India) to ensure they reduce emissions in the long-term.

That is just skimming the surface, so if you are desperate to wade into the wonderful world of policy, then check out these links for updates: the latest text is analysed here, a great NGO blog is regularly updated here and if you are really keen, then visit here for a detailed analysis of each day of negotiations.

Press Release on Youth Day of Action

Just a very quick update to say that today is the Young and Future Generations Day in Copenhagen. It is an opportunity for people to learn about the people (youth) who will bear the brunt of whatever decision is made here in Copenhagen.

Read the International Youth Climate Movement press release here.

Is there logic in this madness?

This might seem like an over-the-top introduction to a blog post, but I think it sums up very well my journey thus far in Copenhagen. We are now two days into the official negotiations, and already, things are chaotic, exciting and fascinating.

So first, the chaos. When 20 000 people descend on one place there is bound to be chaos. There are stalls from all the NGOs around the world, there are negotiators rushing from place to place and there are cameras poking at you everywhere you turn.  And that’s before we even start talking about the negotiations themselves.

Youth in the conference centre

The first thing you notice about the negotiations is the confusing mixture of crazy acronyms. LULUCF, AWG-KP, AGW-LCA, REDD and NAMAs are just a sample of acronyms which roll off people’s tongues with the confidence of someone reciting the alphabet. Indeed, it has gotten so bad that there is now an acronym for the acronyms (TLAs – Three letter acronyms, in case you were wondering). Even if you get past all the acronyms, you still have to work out what exactly those pleasant-mannered negotiators are saying. They talk so calmly that important statements go unnoticed by any but the most seasoned observer.

It’s fair to say that it can seem hard, or should I say, impossible, to find meaning in this weird mass of jargon and political process. I have certainly struggled in the last couple of days to understand what is going on. Most importantly, it is easy to feel like there is nothing you can do in the face of such complexity.

This has led me to wonder: surely there is something bigger than this? Surely there is some logic behind all this madness? You might be surprised to hear this, but I think there is.

Behind all the manoeuvring, all the acronyms is a reality. This is a reality where politicians from different countries must make decisions. They decide whether to say yes to a proposal or not. And when they make that decision, they have the information to know that either that decision benefits the climate, or it does not. A fair, ambitious and binding agreement would benefit climate change. No agreement, or a watered down agreement would not.

For all of us who aren’t members of the government, this is what we have to realise. Despite all the tricks, all the games and all the complexity, politicians are making decisions, decisions which determine the future of the climate. As a young person who is supposed to be represented by my government, I expect them to make a decision which reflects the will of the people – my own and others.

This decision may be dressed up in flash words and acronyms, and it may seem complex and confusing, but at the decision to be made in Copenhagen is simple. Firstly, politicians decide to take actions to prevent climate change, or they do not. Secondly, we decide. We decide whether we support the politicians decision or not. If we do not, then it is up to us to ensure they feel the consequences of their failure to listen – by contacting our politicians, by talking to others and most importantly by voting.

So what is the message to come out of Copenhagen? We need an agreement. That agreement needs to recognise that the developed world (including us in New Zealand) is responsible for the majority of emissions, and thus has the greatest responsibility for reducing emissions. When politicians are in Copenhagen, they will become immersed in specifics – how to account for emissions, how best to reduce emissions, how much to reduce emissions by. These specifics are important, but they should not mask the message behind the madness – that we are negotiating human life. A decision to resist acting on climate change, is a decision which threatens lives across the globe.

I’m sure you, like me, will be watching closely in the coming week and a half.

Blog from a plane

This has been a slightly delayed blog (as  I wrote it on the plane on the 30th and am only posting now), but I think it’s message still rings true…

So far the focus of this blog has been on the idea of leadership generally. However, all of us at the New Zealand Youth Delegation are pretty excited about the fact that COP15 (AKA the climate change negotiations in Copenhagen) starts in seven days! With that in mind, the next few weeks are going to be focussed upon COP15 and the critical opportunities and challenges which it presents.

Specifically, I plan to do two things:

1. Give you a taste of exactly what goes on at these conferences. Given this is the first time anybody from NZYD will attend such a conference, we are in a really unique position to go on a journey, and take you with us. As I see, hear and feel all the craziness, intensity and hope which this conference offers, I will share this with you via this blog.

2. Continue posting inspirational stories of people, groups and Governments who are demonstrating real leadership on climate change issues.

Sound exciting? I think so! Although I could be slightly biased, as I am writing this from a plane above Australia, en route to Europe. And while we’re talking about leadership, a few awesome snippets of news you might be interested in: - Obama has officially announced that he will be coming to Copenhagen.

But most importantly, John Key is coming!!!!!!!!!!!! Wooohoooo! Awesome of John to step up, and it is a testament to the great work of the SignOn folks, and to all the NZers across the country that he has made this decision. Positive action does work!

Frustrated individuals and changing society

I was reading through a very very good article new scientist article the other day on climate change innovations happening around the world right now. Everything from micro-turbines on houses to new methods of food production in Africa. It blew me away. Honestly, if you could put all these ideas in one place, you would have an incredible, sustainable and successful city/country/world.

It got me wondering why these ideas have not been snapped up across the world. The problem, I think is that these changes require people who are prepared to put time and energy into making them. It is not a matter of simply coming up with an idea. You have to come up with an idea, you have to convince people that idea is a good one, and even then you still have to put people’s good intentions into action.

There are usually two different levels of action where this could happen – action by governments/leaders and actions by individuals in their own lives. Governments have the most potential to make these changes, because they are able to enforce compliance upon a large number of people. The problem, however, is with that word enforce: the very nature of governments also means that any action which some people disagree with becomes very hard to implement. So, while governments have great potential to make huge changes, often the changes we want them to make are difficult and slow, hindered by those who cannot bear the thought of their money going to prevent climate change, or simply hindered because people cannot bear the thought of government spending their money in the first place.

But what about individuals? Many individuals see the lack of action on climate change and feel defeated and hopeless. I have two responses to this. Firstly, governments need people like us to keep on driving them to make changes and to keep up the momentum. Secondly, and most importantly, a lack of government action should encourage individual action. When energy for change is lacking in governments, it seems illogical, no, stupid, to decide that the best result is for you to give up as well.

If you are a frustrated individual who sees the slow pace of government action as discouraging, keep that last paragraph in mind. Most importantly, remember that every time you decide not to do something, you are becoming one of those dirty-planet-haters who you so often complain about.

Finally, remember that individual action has always been the basis for change. At the end of the day, we are the government and the government is us. If you are waiting for somebody else to make a change, then they too are probably waiting for you to make a change.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead