Youth Speaking Up for Our Future
The clock is ticking...that's the message emerging from the international climate change negotiations that wrapped up last week in Bonn, Germany. Hundreds of diplomats, faith leaders, civil society participants and youth activists converged on Bonn, a critical marker in the run-up to the full UN climate meeting that will take place this December in Copenhagen, Denmark. The news reports from the meeting are less than optimistic. UN officials like Yvo de Boer (head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat) are skeptical that negotiators will be able to have a draft treaty ready for the December meeting, where diplomats hope to put together the successor to the Kyoto Protocol.
Rifts are growing between North and South over how much and how quickly to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, how to transfer clean energy technology to the developing world, and how to help poor and vulnerable communities adapt to climate change effects like droughts and changing disease patterns. The debate is not over the science of climate change, but over responsibility; are the richest nations solely responsible for fixing the problem? To what extent are major emitters like China and India expected to 'pitch in,' and how will it affect their development? How can we create more effective global partnerships to face future environmental and economic challenges? And, of course, who's going to pay for it all?
While all of these questions remain unanswered, the most encouraging thing I have heard from Bonn, from both news reports and personal accounts, is that young people are stepping up and making their voices heard on this issue. My generation understands that we will face the consequences of climate change, and we are calling on both our peers and our political leaders to take the steps necessary to prevent the most catastrophic environmental damages from falling upon us. Youth activist groups like SustainUs and the Energy Action Coalition are calling for climate justice, across populations and across generations.
Despite serious setbacks, the international negotiations are moving forward. As they do, we all have an opportunity and a responsibility to raise our voices in a collective call for a safer and healthier future for ourselves and for future generations. It starts at home, since we need serious domestic climate legislation to give the US the credibility to lead the way at Copenhagen. Looking beyond our borders, there are a series of mobilizations this fall to call for climate action in Copenhagen, and plenty of ways for all of us to get involved. So with an eye to the crucial negotiations at the end of the year, and the future beyond it, let's all speak up for solutions.
While all of these questions remain unanswered, the most encouraging thing I have heard from Bonn, from both news reports and personal accounts, is that young people are stepping up and making their voices heard on this issue. My generation understands that we will face the consequences of climate change, and we are calling on both our peers and our political leaders to take the steps necessary to prevent the most catastrophic environmental damages from falling upon us. Youth activist groups like SustainUs and the Energy Action Coalition are calling for climate justice, across populations and across generations.
Despite serious setbacks, the international negotiations are moving forward. As they do, we all have an opportunity and a responsibility to raise our voices in a collective call for a safer and healthier future for ourselves and for future generations. It starts at home, since we need serious domestic climate legislation to give the US the credibility to lead the way at Copenhagen. Looking beyond our borders, there are a series of mobilizations this fall to call for climate action in Copenhagen, and plenty of ways for all of us to get involved. So with an eye to the crucial negotiations at the end of the year, and the future beyond it, let's all speak up for solutions.