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Heather Sayine-Crawford - My Blog
Heather Sayine-Crawford - My Blog


Wonderful Youth Actions!
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

With the COP winding down I wanted to call attention to the awesome Actions Team, they have been wonderful! Although I didn't see all of their actions the ones I did see caught your eye, made you think, and were well thought out.

To be greeted by enthusiastic shouts, a smart display or a witty hoopla outside the conference center was usually the best part of my day. The slow and frustrating pace of the talks going on inside made me feel almost hopeless but the youth actions reminded me why we are here and what we need to do. I applaud them for their activities and applaud their perseverence through tough times (huge props to Jess).

Today, the actions culminated in one huge outpouring of youth feelings today directly following the former vice-president Al Gore's speech. It was a huge success in my eyes, there was a giant crowd of media and supporters. As the meeting room where Al Gore spoke began to empty the a large group of youth from around the world unfurled banners that read "survival is not negotiable".

This statement comes after frustration being felt from youth after a lack of participation in these talks, when these talks are meant to shape the future, a future that we inherit. It is disappointing that in order to be heard we must do things on this scale. Along with this action came a campaign to get countries to sign on to Project Survival. In signing they agree to the following text,

I, the undersigned, commit my delegation to a global climate treaty that: safeguards the survival of all countries and peoples.
Climate change threatens the very survival of island nations and other impacted communities.
Join international youth to ensure that a global climate treaty includes the principle of safeguarding the survival of all countries and peoples.
We need a successful outcome from Poznan. Reassure the world you are committed to a climate agreement that protects the most vulnerable among us.

Up until now, more than 90 countries have signed on, this is wonderful, my only wish is that all countries that are here in Poznan would have signed on, and move forward to Copenhagen in a much more substantive way.

December 12, 2008 | 11:58 AM Comments  0 comments

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1st Day of COP!!!
Related to country: Poland

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

After a very frustrating and very long trip, I can`t believe I am finally here in Poznan!!! My dad is the absolute greatest, we drove the 14 hours from the Northwest Territories to Edmonton so that I could make my flight. After some bad weather and an incident at the airport in my hometown, my dad offered to drive me down to Edmonton at 10:30 pm!! So, it is thanks to him that I am here, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

So now onto what is going on here in Poznan. After weeks and weeks of preparation I can't believe we are actually here! The opening session was great! It was packed, we heard speeches from the Prime Ministers of Poland (Donald Tusk) and Denmark (Anders Fogh Rasmussen), the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC (Yvo de Boer) and the chair of the IPCC (Rajendra Pachauri), and then watched a video made by the Government of Poland on why climate change is such a critical issue.

I sat in on 2 plenaries today (the meetings where all of the country delegates are present). The AWG-LCA is already arguing and they haven`t even got past going over the agenda for the next two weeks!! So these meetings take place in huge halls because there are a couple of delegates (4-5) for each country and NGO (non-governmental organization) participating in the talks. It is quite daunting when you walk into the room.

Can`t wait for tomorrow, more great things to do, more meetings to take part in, more people to meet and a million more things to learn!!

December 1, 2008 | 6:20 PM Comments  1 comments

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