copenhagen

“We understand the value of water as an essential liquid for life. This is why we’re working hard to care for it, to care for our mountains and to protect it as part of our culture. We need a united voice telling this to governments so that when we fight climate change, we also protect water”.

As the climate change negotiations in Copenhagen begin to hot up, Jo Barrett, Progressio Press Officer extraordinaire and myself are beginning our long train journey to Copenhagen to join our colleagues already there.

I am looking forward to working with a wonderful woman called Fabiola Quishpe , a community leader and grassroots activist from Ecuador, for whom I will be translating as Progressio seeks to bring ‘southern voices’ to the Copenhagen debates. She is among millions of people in poor communities being hit hard by climate change.

If there was a hospital set up to deal with the world’s problems, I’d make an appointment to see a doctor and tell them that earth was suffering from behavioral problems that weren’t typical but unexpected, out of season, unprecedented and catastrophic. “I think” he’ll say, with an eyebrow arched, arms folded and nodding contemplatively “that you are describing the classic symptoms of climate change”. “You should try to do something about it and let be know that your future is worth saving.’

‘Imagine if you know 189 people, and you got them all together and said, “Here’s how we want you to run a significant part of your lives in the next 30 or 40 years – and by the way, you have to have unanimously agree that that’s how you want to do it.”’ That’s how Ed Miliband (not David, though they are brothers, Ed is the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whereas David is the current British Foreign Secretary) described his trip at the intergovernmental meeting in Copenhagen.

Today I arrived at work to see John Vidal’s excellent expose on the complex punctuation, backroom power games, bureaucracy and language of the UN’s climate change negotiations in the Guardian Weekend left open on my desk.  Back in London, the craziness of Barcelona faded away all too quickly as I tried to get in a bit of Christmas shopping, attack my overflowing inbox and actually do a bit of laundry but John’s words brought that strange world of negotiations rushing back: the endl

The big frustrating aspect around the negotiations today is high-level politicians disussing a ‘politically-binding’ agreement at Copenhagen as opposed to a ‘legally-binding’ agreement. Kevin Grandia wittily summarises the utility of this concept along with the disappointment of all parties working on climate change when he wrote:

With all the long hours I’ve been putting into to covering these climate talks, I’m sure my wife is wishing our marriage was a politically binding agreement, as opposed to a legal one.

“Are you a climate leader?” asked the green alien as I approached the Gran Via conference centre on our last day of climate change negotiations.   “We are from planet B.  Our planet was destroyed when we failed to take action on climate change.  Is Copenhagen in this galaxy?”

“Yes”, I reply as I show them my badge.

“Ah, you are not a climate leader!” they say, as they NON-GOVERNMENTAL in huge letters next to my face.  No, I think, I’m not.  And I’m not sure what I’d do if I were.