Copenhagen blog: Shut out of the summit
Wednesday, December 16, 2009 | 12:05 PM ET
Submitted by Kimia Ghomeshi
Canadian youth do a silent lie-in to express their frustration towards the Canadian government's recently leaked climate plan. Submitted by Adam Scott.
As of yesterday, civil society participation at the Copenhagen summit was drastically reduced, with only 15,000 of the approximately 40,000 accredited individuals admitted to the conference.
This happened during the most important days of the summit, when ministers arrived from around the world with heads of state expected to arrive shortly thereafter.
Thousands of non-governmental organization observers have only just arrived in Copenhagen. They were welcomed with the disappointing news that they might have two to three days at most to participate in the conference.
Only 11 members, or about one third, of our Canadian Youth Delegation received secondary badges (needed for admittance into the summit as of Tuesday), which is actually better than we expected.
As a result, we had to change our game plan. For those with secondary badges, if you arrived any later than 8 a.m., you were most likely stuck in a lineup that lasted as long as three or five hours. Even some party delegates got stuck in the lineups. And registration was officially closed yesterday, leaving many who travelled far distances to attend the Copenhagen summit out in the cold, literally.
Sitting around our hostel badge-less yesterday, it was very disheartening to be part of civil society shut out of the most important negotiations of our time. Why would they accredit so many people when they clearly had limited capacity?
People (including the Canadian youth) spent a pretty penny to attend and many won’t even take one step into the conference centre.
Scientists, farmers, youth, trade union representatives, NGOs, members of the business community are among those who make up the civil society that are being excluded from a UN process that is supposed to be transparent.
So today I am shut out of the summit, but tomorrow will be my last day in the Bella Center so I am still hopeful. It’s left unclear exactly how to have my voice heard by Environment Minister Jim Prentice, but it is my responsibility to Canadians back home to share the true story of what our country stands for. So I hope he will listen.
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SomewhatRealistic
Ottawa
Yes, being shut out of an International Conference such as this one makes for good press and hurt feelings.
The scientific experts are still confused by the global warming issue and the heads of states with their expert analysts looking at the issue from multiple view points, including local and international economics, have a tremendous responsibility to many concerned groups.
The average person does not understand this. The average person says they want change to protect the environment yet continues to drive SUVs and mini vans and cry to the government if the price of oil reaches a high...which is the very thing that forces the average person to conserve and consume less fossil fuels, thus reducing greenhouse gases.
When the price of oil topped $100 a barrel, the average person rode a bike, traded in mini vans for fuel efficient cars and then drove them at the speed limit to conserve fuel. The average person took a bus, pressured local governments for more mass transit and the sum of the average persons make a difference.
Should we cry over the fact the average person has been shut out of the conference? No, we should rejoice because that means there are more informed people at the table with a lot more responsibility for a wide range of concerned parties talking to each other.
I'd rather see more scientists and more heads of state at the table then a few average citizens.
Posted December 16, 2009 01:16 PM
andy cottrell
PM Harper going to Copenhagen. HA! Where's Stefan Dion when we really need someone to represent Canada's green voice?
Posted December 16, 2009 06:20 PM
Heather Martin
The fact that an 11th hour agreement on "Climate Change" should be of no surprise to anyone, including the pro-climate protesters on the Inconvenient Truth bandwagon.
It is also no surprise that Stephen Harper was left out of the closed meeting leading up to the treaty being signed. Harper will willingly follow Obama anywhere he goes so his vote is not necessary.
What people failed to hear out of the Copenhagen summit is that the science failed to be clear even when the conference president stated it was.
The truth was put out for the entire world to see (the earth is not warming, but in fact cooling)and no one in power was willing to admit it. What's worse is that a new economy was forged and solidified by the ratification and signing of this treaty that binds all first world nations to finance it.
The illusion that we will be living in a greener utopia is only shared by the 20 somethings who have no concept of the reprocussions of turning food into fuel. The new "Green Economy" has been sold like a Hollywood blockbuster all full of drama and special effects, but lacks one ingredient: Truth.
When scientists change data, cover-up their contradictory results and tell each other to keep things a secret from the public, do we question it? No, instead we tell ourselves that somehow CO2 is poisonous and that we deserve to be punished for emitting it upon exhalation.
Humans will be offenders by their very existence and the only redemption will be through paying taxes. There will be taxes, taxes and more taxes...and we will have no recourse when our industries get sold off to the third world who will buy tax credits in order to continue to pollute.
While we in the Western World will be living greener lives, we will see unemployment reach depression levels, food shortages and cost increases, homelessness levels rise and the collapse of our financial and social services systems.
Only the super-rich will be able to afford a hybrid car and organic food. It will be a system created by the rich for the rich and the poor who fall by the wayside will be considered a casualty of war.
Posted December 23, 2009 04:06 PM