COP15 = COP out

Posted at 02:41AM on Dec 29, 2009 by Devon Willis

COP15 ended over a week ago, yet I have had some trouble writing this last blog entry. Two very significant things happened on Saturday, December 19th in Copenhagen. One of them happened in the Bella Center and the other took place in the NGO Convergence Center, the place that the NGO community had been working from since their access to the Bella Center had been cut for spacial and security reasons during the second week of the conference.

At 1pm on Saturday the Colossal Fossil Award ceremony took place. I have spoken about this award in earlier entries and I want to first put it into context. This award has been given by Climate Action Network (CAN), an international ENGO (Environmental Non-Governmental Organization) for eleven years. If you have seen it in video or in photos, you may not take it seriously. The Fossil of the Day award is given each day to the country that has blocked progress the most during the negotiations. This is the country that has said something significant or acted in a way that has halted the advance of the negotiations in some way. The recipients of this award are decided daily in CAN International meetings by CAN members. CAN is made up of approximately 400 ENGOs, a significant amount of people in attendance at the conference, and a large amount of ENGOs worldwide. This is the voice of civil society from Canada and around the world.

The award is normally given in a theatrical way. Two people present it in an award-show style, with music and props. The ceremony takes place at the end of the day in the NGO area of the conference center. NGOs, youth, and negotiators alike come together for this soberly humorous event. Humorous because of the costumes, the music, and the satyr. Sober because the award is a dubious recognition of a country's actions that have negatively impacted progress at the conference.

I have said several time throughout the negotiations that it was well-known in Copenhagen that Canada is often a blocking force at the negotiations. In fact, one time when the Canadian Youth Delegation was doing an action, a woman from New Zealand approached us to say “Canada is the only country here that makes us feel less bad". Both Canada and New Zealand are part of a group of nations known to block progress of the negotiations.

The Fossil of the Day award is always a time that I have been slightly amused, always expecting for Canada to received first, second or third place. We often do. However, on that Saturday, as all of civil society in the convergence center stood booing Canada, I was embarrassed. People all over the world know that my country and my government are doing nothing to help solve the problem that we as humans face on this planet. As I stood there watching the ceremony, I was deeply affected by it. I truly felt like my government was a) not doing what is right and b) failing to represent the voices of so many Canadians who are legitimately concerned about climate change.

I had to ask myself again, if the government is not representing the concerns of most Canadians, and they are not doing what is right, what are they doing, and who are they accountable to? How can my government just represent the marginal interests of the few who work in the oil industry of Alberta. This is further a very finite industry: these jobs will not last for long, nor will the energy or the income that results. Further, the product is not even enjoyed by Canadians, but is exported at low cost to the United States.

What will Canada be left with? An area the size of England destroyed. Absurdly high emissions. Indigenous communities whose rights are being violated, and whose health is deteriorating as a result of the water that flows downstream into their communities. We will not have people trained in the jobs of the future, we will not have alternate energy for when this resource runs out, and we will have done it all while hurting Canadians, and undermining an international movement towards sustainable living, clean energy, and innovation. Canada is going to be left in the dust.

Later that night, after 11pm just as the Canadian Youth Delegation was wrapping up our final meeting together, as we discussed the possible existence of a COP-bis (a second part to COP15) in Bonn or in Mexico City, a press conference began. President Barack Obama of the United States spoke. It was not so much what he said that disturbed me that night. I think that most of the youth, although hopeful, did not expect to get the fair, ambitious and law-binding treaty that we have been calling for. It was the way that Obama spoke that night that really upset me. He was not confident, he was certainly not sure of himself. We sat and listened and we knew very well that he knew that what he was saying was wrong. It was not enough, and the world would not be pleased.

The NGOs and youth who remained in Copenhagen sat together, silently listening to his words. This was the conference that could, attended by the man whose slogan has always been ”yes we can” – but it didn’t. He could, but he didn’t. They could, but they didn’t.

COP15 was a COP out. It was built up to such an extent that world leaders from all countries were in the Bella Center. 40,000 people were accredited for a conference center that had a capacity for 15, 000. Hopes were high. However, the results were insufficient, and honesty, unacceptable. How can we sit and accept that if we do not do more, certain parts of the world will be under water by the end of the century. Certain species will become extinct. Ways of life will be changed forever, as close to us as the Inuit communities in Northern Canada who are already feeling the effects of this change. It is unacceptable.

I went to the conference hopefully of what the UN process could achieve, and hoping that my government would not disappoint me. However, Canada was recognized once again for colossally blocking progress, and the United Nations failed to achieve what was necessary.

Next December COP16 will take place in Mexico City. It is not sure yet what the hopes and expectations will be. The President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, announced that Bolivia would hold a Climate Summit in April. He said that if the UN cannot accomplish what is necessary, that the people of the world can come together and make it happen. As for me and the rest of the Canadian Youth Delegation, while disappointed, our dissatisfaction with the result of COP15, and our certainty that we are not alone, will keep us going strong and working together.

Devon Willis will be in Paris, France for the winter semester studying at Sciences Po, Paris. She will be starting a blog "In my head, around the world" shortly, so keep an eye out for it, or add her on Facebook: Devon Paige Willis, or e-mail her at devon.willis@mail.mcgill.ca.