Thursday, December 17, 2009

A day of reflection

As with the majority of NGO observers, we are shut out of the COP15 proceedings today. For those of us staying on the outskirts of the city, ice, snow and drifting kept us from getting to events at other venues since, at least this morning, the train was not running out at this end of the line. So it has been a day of reflection (and some exam grading).

The videos and images posted with this CNN story (see link below) illustrate two aspects of the Convention besides the political discussions: The activism (I am really glad that our students were inside the Bella Center yesterday) and the real changes that are occurring in other parts of the world (check out what used to be a ski resort).
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/12/17/copenhagen.climate.summit/index.html
I don't know if the bold annoucement from Hillary regarding the U.S. offering $1 billion to a mitigation fund -- something the least developed countries and small island nations have been calling for -- will be enough of a breakthrough to get the negotiations to begin moving again.

Some of our group is headed tonight to a special program about the plight of indigenous peoples. HB is attending a reception for those involved with The Climate Project with Al Gore. http://www.theclimateproject.org/
This stark contrast of venues (and perspectives) characterizes the time that we have spent in Denmark.

No comments:

Post a Comment