Today wraps up the end of the first week of negotiations in Copenhagen. It's been a great time here, and a lot of good work has been accomplished. The youth have been an impressive positive force throughout the week and we have received a lot of recognition for our efforts, professionalism, energy and creativity. I think it's a great time to take inventory of what has happened, and to reiterate our position as youth on these negotiations. Monday, December 7th: - Opening session of COP15 with IPCC Chairman Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, UN Secretariat Yvo de Boer, COP15 President Connie Hedegaard and others. - First International Youth Climate Movement action- Flash Mob Dance! Watch the video:

Tuesday, December 8th: - Youth have high-level briefing with Chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action Michael Zammit-Cutajar, and John Ashe, Chair of the UN group discussing rich countries’ emissions. - Youth and NGOs meet with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change Jonathan Pershing, and Assistant Secretary of Energy for Policy and International Affairs David Sandelow for an off-the-record meeting.

Wednesday, December 9th: - Rapid Response team is created! The US Youth are calling friends back home to get them to engage their Senators to vote for domestic climate legislation based on science. Tuvalu protests Danish leaked text outside of a plenary session.

Thursday, December 10th: - Young and Future Generations Day: 1,000 youth wore bright orange t-shirts that read "How Old Will You Be in 2050?" and "Don't Bracket Our Future" bringing light to the issue that youth will bare the brunt of climate change. - Indian Youth Representative gives amazing speech at meeting with Yvo de Boer - watch the video US and Chinese youth meet to discuss commonalities between our countries and develop strategic positions and actions for the negotiations. Watch the resulting press conference.

Friday, December 11th & Saturday, December 12th: - Biggest march around climate change ever. The streets of Copenhagen were a sea of lights when over 100,000 people joined together in a march for international awareness of climate change issues and calling for a legally binding treaty at the end of this week based on science. Watch the video.

In Grand Rapids the organization Local First that has helped spur a movement in the city to think and buy local. The popular phrase, Think Globally, Act Locally has been an inspiration to citizens, students, and children alike and it has especially had a meaningful impact on me. This simple phrase is what has driven me to do the work that I do in my community, and it was only reinforced during the negotiations in Copenhagen. Storytelling, one of the main ways that I connect with my community and with what’s happening around the world also proved to be very important. First, to make sense of the labyrinth that was the Bella Center I found it was best for me to choose one or two stories to follow and watch unfold until I could share it with others. For example, I decided to pay close attention to the actions of the U.S. Youth Delegation so that I could tell the media and our decision makers about what we were doing at the negotiations. With 500+ U.S. youth participating in the talks it’s easy to imagine the wealth of stories to share.

Secondly, telling the narrative of Expedition Copenhagen and highlighting the Midwest to everyone I met enabled me to make connections with people from around the world that had similar experiences. Listening to other stories demonstrated the broad implications of climate change and helped me generate new ideas for solutions based thinking. The simple act of sharing my story was the best way for me to act locally on a global scale. What I already knew, but what was made even clearer during the negotiations was that our local stories connect us to people from around the world. We are all interconnected, and our stories are powerful enough to cross every barrier. There are billions of people around the world that have similar struggles and victories as you and me. Circumstances may be different, but we can usually find a place where our stories cross paths. In Copenhagen I heard and followed hundreds of these accounts and shared the story of the Midwest with everyone I met. Ultimately, we have to remember that all of these stories go back to our roots.

The work that I have been doing in Grand Rapids, and what each delegate on the Expedition Copenhagen team has been engaged in is what made it critical that we took part in these talks. Global climate change is a huge issue to tackle with thousands of angles to look at. The only way to remain grounded and in touch with reality is to hear about the effects of climate change on communities by people from those communities. That is why thousands of civil society members registered to participate in these negotiations – they wanted, rather needed, to share their narrative to remind decision makers why they must take significant action on climate change now. During the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, there were over two thousand registered NGO organizations. Since that time the number of civil society members participating in climate talks has increased significantly. Copenhagen was the largest convergence of people on the issue of climate change with over 45,000 registered people plus thousands more staying in the city to help organize outside events, marches and protests.

Reflected in this number is the amount of attention currently being paid to the climate crisis. Over 110 heads of state took part in these negotiations, and we are now closer than ever to signing an international treaty. Thus, it is easy to assume that the thousands of stories shared by these people are impossible for the decision makers to miss. Without these narratives we would not be this close to taking the bold action that is necessary because they are the driving force behind the positive changes taking place.

We cannot have a sustainable world without first starting in our homes, schools, cities and governments. After we start to strengthen our roots can we begin to grow the movement internationally. The fact that in Copenhagen we were on the cusp of signing an international legally binding treaty to stop global climate change demonstrates how important these local actions are to securing a safe and just future. The purpose that civil society and Expedition Copenhagen delegates served was to act as visible representations of the effects of and solutions to climate change.

The stories from my community keep me grounded, and they are the reason why I went to Copenhagen. The lessons I learned from the stories I heard and followed during the negotiations are why I came back more empowered, more inspired, and more ready to work locally and help transition our global society to be more just and sustainable. We have to focus local to impact global and we have to remember that we are not insignificant. What we do in our local communities is not insignificant. It’s the most important work that can be done.

Hmm....the above sentence may sound a bit crazy and nonsensical. How can we reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by using cows? As a vegetarian I am an advocate for reducing meat consumption in the U.S. and abroad because of the high levels of GHGs emitted into the atmosphere from the industry. But there is a smart way to harness some of those gases and turn them into energy.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced today an new measure in the states to do just that. It's a way to capture the huge amounts of methane that cows emit through their (ahem) manure. Methane is 21 times more potent than CO2 and is a key GHG to rapidly reduce. Vilsack's new plan is to reduce GHG emissions from the dairy industry 25% by 2020. A main component of this plan is to convince farmers to invest in an anaerobic digester, which will capture the methane and turn it into energy.

Agriculture accounts for 7% of the U.S. GHG emissions, and 15-22% of world emissions. Investing in clean energy technologies to decrease agriculture emissions will be a great step forward to stopping climate change. Vilsack, former Governor of Iowa stated in a press release today that "Rural economies will benefit from the incentives in comprehensive energy legislation that reward production of renewable energy and sequestration of greenhouse gases."

The midwest has a great opportunity to lead the U.S. in transitioning to a clean energy economy, and investing in farmers is a great first step.

The international climate negotiations in Copenhagen are winding down to an end. With just four more days of talks left, and over 110 heads joining in the next few days, you can feel the restlessness of the Bella Center and even the world around the world. Will there be a deal, or not? Is it going to be legally binding? What will developing nations do it developed countries only sign a political treaty?

Expedition Copenhagen delegates are still advocating for the same three things in a new treaty that we always have been. We want a FAB deal- that is, a Fair, Ambitious and Binding treaty based on sound science. Why? Because the science is clear, and so it the history.

Developed nations have an ecological debt to pay to the rest of the world. We have contributed most to climate change in the form of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Since there is not bubble over developed countries, then we have polluted the entire world. Developing nations, most specifically small island states, polar regions and coastal areas are already experiencing the many effects of climate change now. For them this deal means survival.

So we need to be fair in what we ask from all countries. Common but differentiated responsibilities is the phrase most often used to describe the fact that everyone needs to work to stop GHG emissions from rising, but that heavily industrialized and developed nations must work to pay off their ecological debt first. Requiring countries that have contributed little (if at all) to the problem is not fair.

We also need to be ambitious. We do not have to be dividing up the atmosphere into sections, and as so many bright yellow signs read during the march past Saturday, "There is No Planet B." So our reduction targets must be based on the sound science of 350ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere with no more than a 1.5*C rise in temperature. The money we put our on the table to help countries adapt to climate changes that are already happening, and the money for new technologies needs to be significant. Developing countries are asking for $200+ billion each year to help deal with climate change happening back home.

And we need a legally binding treaty to hold countries accountable to reducing their emissions. A political deal is merely symbolic. Many developed countries, such as the U.S. argue that they need more time to create a legally binding treaty so that they can pass domestic climate legislation. But we have had time to discuss this problem for 20+ years, and the science and world are in agreement that action needs to be taken now. So this treaty must be legally binding, because again, we are dealing with the survival of people and the planet.

This week access to the Bella Center is severely limited to civil society. While this is very frustrating, I choose to look on the positive side. In Copenhagen there has been another "conference" happening alongside of the negotiations. Klimaforum is the people's conference, and the list of events happening here in endless. While the negotiations can boast "celebrities" in a policy wonk's book, Klimaforum has people like Vandana Shiva and Archbishop Desmond Tutu as speakers. These people have worked with the people most directly affected by climate change. Some of them are direct victims to business as usual practices from developed countries. I would much rather relay the message of these people back home to inspire people to get involved, than to work extra hard to weed through the web of politics created by top negotiators.

We also have a great challenge and opportunity to be effectively pressuring the U.S. and other developed countries to take bold action this week. We need to be strategically planning our actions, drafting up our policy positions, setting up meetings outside of the Bella Center and working with friends and family back home to apply pressure from the domestic side to negotiators. That way we will be in the Bella Center without having to physically be in the center.

Only four more days of negotiating left. Will there be a deal, or not?What will it look like? I do not know. But what I do know is that there are thousands (literally 35,000) of people working day and night to ensure that negotiators are feeling the heat. No matter what, the work does not end here. But I have hope that we will come out of these negotiations with something substantial and which will put us on the path to survival.

Today I "officially" graduated from Grand Valley State University - but in Copenhagen rather than Grand Rapids, Michigan. Instead of walking across the stage in the Van Andel Arena and shaking President Thomas Haas' hand, I strolled the streets of Copenhagen with 100,000 of my closest friends. We walked, danced and chanted out way to the Bella center, the main site of the COP15 negotiations.

The march was split up into different blocks of people and organizations. The lead block of the march were the Indigenous people of the world, and Aurora, one of our Minnesota delegates was at the very front of the loooong line of participants. The rest of us were in the 5th block (there were 30 overall) with the YOUNGOs (international youth), 350.org and TckTckTck. I actually got to meet Bill McKibben, head of 350.org for the second time today! I told him, along with everyone else that I came across today, that I was graduating from college in Copenhagen.

Overall the event was peaceful and effective, despite some participants being arrested, demonstrating the solidarity in this movement for a clean and just energy future that exists between people from all over the world. What an experience it was taking part in an march with people singing and chanting in languages that I did not understand, but knowing that they were advocating for the same things as me - a Fair, Ambitious and Binding treaty.

Here is a brief glimpse of the march from my perspective:

Most of the signs had a clear message, some reading "Climate Justice Now," "There is NO Planet B," and "Blah, Blah, Blah: ACT Now." Thousands of signs, big and small, were used at the march making it very colorful and beautiful.

There were so many creative costumes, banners and floats made for the march. Holly, a fellow Expedition Copenhagen team member was a penguin with 20 other people, highlighting the effects that climate change has on certain vulnerable species.

We actually got to see the sun outside of the Bella Center during the march. It was a beautiful, cold day in the city.

Citizens of Copenhagen along the route were hanging signs from their windows in support of 350ppm of CO2 and a binding treaty.

Today was a great way to spend my graduation. I have a passion to create a more just and sustainable future for all, and a dedication to start now and never stop. What a great story I can tell my children and grandchildren when this conference and the decisions made here will determine the future state of the planet. I feel privileged to be a part of Expedition Copenhagen, this team, this conference, this historic moment. Because this is what we all need to be doing- working with each other to slow global climate change and visioning a better world.

P.S. DID I MENTION THAT I GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE TODAY1?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!! : )

Today was Youth and Future Generations Day at the UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark. Youth were given t-shirts that read "How Old Will You Be in 2050?" on the front, and "Don't Bracket Our Future" on the back. Overall, 1,000 shirts for youth and 1,000 scarves for adults were handed out to show inter-generational solidarity and to represent the global movement toward a more sustainable future.

In 2050 I will be 63 years old. My family, and those of my friends, will be preparing to be grandparents. It is these children, their lives and future that youth were advocating for today. The shirts and scarves were a compelling way to demonstrate visually the importance of including the youth in these negotiations.

Youth had a great opportunity to meet with Ivo de Boer, UN Secretariat and a very influential and powerful individual at the COP15 negotiations. He sat on a panel with three other leaders, and three youth spokespersons.

Today I witnessed one of the best speeches of my life. Ruchi Jain from the Indian Youth Delegation spoke about her experiences as a victim of climate change, and her dedication to stopping the most catastrophic effects from happening. She mentioned what youth from all around the world have been doing in their communities and dedication to solving the climate crisis. She floored the audience with her speech, which is in the video below.

Video content from Danielle Ostafinski

The youth were bright and orange today- they were hopeful of a good outcome for the negotiations, inspirational to others with the work they have been engaged in, and effective at spreading the youth message. Thank you Ruchi for giving such a compelling and amazing speech, and keep up the great work!

Today the small island nation of Tuvalu demanded a binding climate agreement from developed nations. After tabling the negotiations for a few hours, the Tuvalu delegation planned an unauthorized action just before recommencing the talks. I arrived at the plenary session early so I had a unique perspective from the inside of the hall. Below is the video that I shot, and links to more information about this action. After the protest no more civil society members were allowed into the plenary room, leaving about 2/3 of the huge room unoccupied. We must stand in solidarity with Tuvalu and continue to demand a FAB -fair, ambitious and binding - climate treaty.

Video courtesy of Danielle Ostafinski

Flickr Photostream

Cross-posted from Energy Action Coalition, www.powershift09.org

Greetings from Copenhagen,

It's been an exciting and complex couple days at the UN climate summit. Despite all the talk about so-called "Climategate" at home, the focus here in Copenhagen is centered on the debate at hand, how will we actually address the catastrophic impacts of global climate change, a scientific reality the world has already agreed is a threat to our planet, people, and economies.

With a long set of negotiations ahead of us, and plenty of reasons to be concerned with the final outcome, I see some important and powerful glimmers of hope in the the maze of hurdles that lie ahead. I was especially energized yesterday afternoon, when I had a real "pinch me" moment as I received a personal phone call from Lisa Jackson, our fearless EPA administrator, who, proud of her agency's endangerment finding announcement, called to celebrate the victory. I was particularly moved that Administrator Jackson recognized the efforts of the youth climate movement, and that she would take the time to thanks us for our hard work, refusal to settle, and for keeping the pressure on when backing down might have been easier or more politically convenient.

I was also excited to hear from Rachel Butler of our partner, SustainUS, that at today's briefing to the US from Jonathan Pershing, David Sandalow, and Administrator Jackson, youth filled up three quarters of the room and waved in unison when the first young person was called on to ask a question. We showed up in force, asked 6 out of the 9 questions that were taken, and asked tough questions about the US's official position on 350ppm, paying our climate debt, and how the recent EPA announcement (woo-hoo!) will strengthen the US's targets.

The momentum that we've been building all year - that rose to a peak with last week's youth climate movement meeting with President Obama's top White House officials - seems to be exploding, and is matched by the pure passion and savviness of youth movement around the world.

The bottom line is that our administration is on the global stage these next weeks, the progress and lack of progress our country has demonstrated makes the role of us as the people of the US more important than ever.

If you want to be a part of the action here from home (and set the record straight for folks who are actually debating whether global warming exists in the media!), you might want to submit a video question to CNN & YouTube. They have set up a massive video cube in the center of the city that people are encouraged to submit videos to be displayed above the historic festivities. Here is how you can easily contribute and make sure your voice is heard.

1. Submit videos that have you asking the tough questions to be displayed on the cube[1] and considered for inclusion in an upcoming CNN show at www.youtube.com/cop15.
   • Here are some great questions the attendees of last week's youth Clean energy Forum came up with.
2. Join the Power Shift Copenhagen Rapid Responder Team so that on a moment's notice we can generate thousands of phone calls, get our message out to the media, and effectively mobilize together.

The pressure is on all of us. I've been anticipating this trip all year, and suddenly it just got a lot more real. Headed back to my hotel to reflect on what could come out of these negotiations, I decided I would not submit to the skepticism. Rather, I felt a renewed sense of optimism. It was a sense that our administration has made strides in the right direction, and I am more confident than ever that our movement will finally thrive on the full force of our collective actions and power. Jessy Tolkan Executive Director Energy Action Coalition

Yesterday U.S. youth made a HUGE impact at the COP15 negotiations. The U.S. State Department invited NGOs and youth for an off-the-record briefing of U.S. position in the negotiations. Representatives included EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change Jonathan Pershing, and Assistant Secretary of Energy for Policy and International Affairs David Sandelow.

In a

Yesterday U.S. youth made a HUGE impact at the COP15 negotiations. The U.S. State Department invited NGOs and youth for an off-the-record briefing of U.S. position in the negotiations. Representatives included EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change Jonathan Pershing, and Assistant Secretary of Energy for Policy and International Affairs David Sandelow.

In a room of over 200 people, youth filled rows and rows of seats representing about 70% of the audience. The crowd erupted into applause and then a standing ovation after the introduction of Lisa Jackson.

Photos courtesy of Will Steger Foundation, Jamie Horter

In case you missed it, Monday the EPA announced that greenhouse gases (GHGs) threaten public health and the environment. This declaration was not a surprise to those of us here at COP15 or our followers in the states, but it does represent a big victory for the U.S. Up until now, previous administrations took very little action on the issue of climate change. The announcement was a great way to begin these crucial negotiations and move us toward reaching a FAB (fair, ambitious and binding) agreement next Friday.

The briefing was off-the-record so I cannont blog about explicit content - but I do have to stress that we need to continue pressuring the U.S. to take significant action in Copenhagen. It is important to acknowledge the progress that has been made by the Obama Administration in the past year, because it really is impressive. The U.S. passed new clean car regulations and proposed rules for stationary sources (factories and industries that pollute above a certain percentage of emissions). Not to mention the movement for federal climate change legislation,, currently being debated in the Senate.

But these domestic actions need to be strengthened, and ratifying an international treaty on climate change is not only necessary, but also extremely required. Pressure needs to come from all sides, here in Copenhagen and in the U.S.

But back to youth action at this briefing - let me just mention that out of nine questions asked, five, and by that I mean *5* good, strong and tough questions were asked by U.S. youth. Laura Comer from the SustainUS delegation began her question saying "I am here today with a U.S. delegation of over 500 youth" during which every young person in the room waved to our friends on stage.

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The youth at this briefing were so impressive that we received a shoult out from David Sandelow, who recognized our efforts domestically and abroad, and asked that we continue to pressure the U.S. to take action.

One of the most exciting moments was at the end of the briefing where U.S. youth were invited to have a group picture with Lisa Jackson. I left this conference in awe of the U.S. youth delegation's professionalism and composure under pressure. I have confidence that we will be very effective at these negotiations and look forward to more interactions with the U.S. State Department.

room of over 200 people, youth filled rows and rows of seats representing about 70% of the audience. The crowd erupted into applause and then a standing ovation after the introduction of Lisa Jackson.

 

www.flickr.com

Photos courtesy of Will Steger Foundation, Jamie Horter

In case you missed it, Monday the EPA announced that greenhouse gases (GHGs) threaten public health and the environment. This declaration was not a surprise to those of us here at COP15 or our followers in the states, but it does represent a big victory for the U.S. Up until now, previous administrations took very little action on the issue of climate change. The announcement was a great way to begin these crucial negotiations and move us toward reaching a FAB (fair, ambitious and binding) agreement next Friday.

The briefing was off-the-record so I cannont blog about explicit content - but I do have to stress that we need to continue pressuring the U.S. to take significant action in Copenhagen. It is important to acknowledge the progress that has been made by the Obama Administration in the past year, because it really is impressive. The U.S. passed new clean car regulations and proposed rules for stationary sources (factories and industries that pollute above a certain percentage of emissions). Not to mention the movement for federal climate change legislation,, currently being debated in the Senate.

But these domestic actions need to be strengthened, and ratifying an international treaty on climate change is not only necessary, but also extremely required. Pressure needs to come from all sides, here in Copenhagen and in the U.S.

But back to youth action at this briefing - let me just mention that out of nine questions asked, five, and by that I mean *5* good, strong and tough questions were asked by U.S. youth. Laura Comer from the SustainUS delegation began her question saying "I am here today with a U.S. delegation of over 500 youth" during which every young person in the room waved to our friends on stage.

The youth at this briefing were so impressive that we received a shoult out from David Sandelow, who recognized our efforts domestically and abroad, and asked that we continue to pressure the U.S. to take action.

One of the most exciting moments was at the end of the briefing where U.S. youth were invited to have a group picture with Lisa Jackson. I left this conference in awe of the U.S. youth delegation's professionalism and composure under pressure. I have confidence that we will be very effective at these negotiations and look forward to more interactions with the U.S. State Department.

Today's opening session of COP15 kicked off with speeches from top world leaders, including UN Seretariet Ivo de Boer, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Dr. Rajendra Pachauri and new COP15 President Connie Hedegaard.

I really enjoyed what these three individuals had to say. All three spoke about the need to end these negotiations by passing meaningful emissions reduction targets and a just treaty. They stressed that we have had the past two years since COP13 in Bali to draft a new treaty that either replaces or strengthens the Kyoto Protocol. They also emphasized that the time to act is NOW.

Pachauri highlighted what we all were hoping for - the need to reduce atmospheric concentrations of CO2 from 387ppm (parts per million) to 350ppm. this fall Expedition Copenhagen delegates planned events for the 350.org International Day of Climate Action helping to spread the message of 350. Scientists from around the world we are beginning to support this initiative, including Pachauri and NASA scientists Dr. James Hansen. But the IPCC has not released a full report since 2007 putting Pachauri in a unique position.

"As chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) I cannot take a position because we do not make recommendations," Pachauri told AFP in an interview.

"But as a human being I am fully supportive of that goal. What is happening, and what is likely to happen, convinces me that the world must be really ambitious and very determined at moving toward a 350 target," he added.

Ivo de Boer began his speech with a story about a young boy who experienced a massive monsoon in his community losing his mother, father and younger brother. In it he stressed the importance to take bold actions so that we can avoid more repetitive events in the future. And he ended reminding everyone that children are our future. This video gives some great highlights of the first day at COP15.

COP15 President Connie Hedegaard - a tough and demanding Danish politician and public intellectual, gave the last speech of the opening ceremony. Again, the message was that we must make decisions as Copenhagen that leade to a treaty next Friday.

"Let's get it done. And let's get it done now," said Hedegaard. I agree.