Webinar Presentations

This week the SESEF COP 16 delegates will be presenting two short webinars from the COP 16 conference in Cancun.  The first, on Wednesday, December 8th at 11:30 a.m. CST, will focus on cultural perceptions and impacts of climate change.  The second, on Thursday, December 9th at 11:30 CST, will focus on climate change implications and strategies for addressing it.

To attend these electronic presentations,  go to the url https://my.dimdim.com/ses_cop16 and sign up for the meeting that is taking place. The presentations are dependent on accessing reliable internet connections from the conference, a task that is not always possible.  Notice of postponement or delay will be posted here.  The presentations will also be recorded and available for viewing for a limited time after they are given. The websites for the recorded webinars will be provided here when the meetings have been completed.

Cancun As the Setting for COP16

Since the day I discovered COP16 was going to be in Cancun, the question has continually occurred to me, why has such a tourist filled place been chosen to host the conference when a green revolution capitol like Copenhagen held it just the year before? The answer was always right in front of me and I didn’t even realize it. Cancun is one of the most desired travel destinations in the world and has brought jobs to the more than 1 million citizens that reside in the city. On a tour to the state of Yucatan to visit the historical site Chichen Itza, I had the pleasure of speaking with one of Cancun’s residents, Avelino (Ave).  Ave is one of the many guides who earn a living by becoming thoroughly educated in their country’s history through Universities and spreading that knowledge to tourists through government agencies. While discussing the various sites and natural wonders of Cancun, a discussion of climate change arose between Mr. Johnson and Ave, leading Ave to say, “the population of Cancun 35 years ago was just 150 fisherman and their families, they fished for a living, now there are more than 1 million citizens…and 28 km of hotels along the coast." Tourism is one of the top economic resources that Mexico can use sustainably for years to come. Still, it's value is underutilized when it is not used to educate people, and great improvement could be made in this area. Additionally, the natural resources that tourists come to see are being threatened by climate change.

As we saw on our tour, thousands of Mayan people and their descendents depend on tourists to buy handcrafted goods because those are the only jobs where they can earn a decent living and improve their lives. If ocean levels were to rise, temperatures to fluctuate, or biodiversity to be lost, Mexico's large ecotourism industry would be negatively impacted and a large amount of the population would be without jobs.  Before I viewed the host city of COP16 as a leader of the forward movement to sustainability, but now I see that we should focus in on what we see in Cancun this year, because they have the most to lose, and it very well may be gone soon.

Food Security

In a reading given after a session on food security and sustainable agriculture, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, "food security is when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life". Patrica Cochran from the Alaska Native Science Commission, spoke to the issue of food security using her situation in her community in the Alaskan Arctic. For many reasons, the Inuit peoples' situation is not how food security is defined. Instead there has been higher rates of hunger due to things like changes in animal availability, people's access to the wildlife, the safety and quality of the animals for consumption, and low household income. She said her community and others are witnessing changes in climate that are affecting the availability of species and residents’ ability to harvest them, and likely ultimately affecting their nutrient intake from these foods. In some cases, residents are having to adapt harvesting activities and reduce their consumption of some species, and in other cases, increasing their intake of other animals that are moving into their region.



Patricia Cochran, Kirt Ejesiak, and Ronny Jumeau

Not only are some native animals becoming less available, they're also being contaminated. In a study done by GRID-Ardenal, an official United Nations Environment Program collaboration, they found increased levels of mercury in marine species, that exceed Canadian and international safety guidelines. There have also been traces of pharmaceutical chemicals, and natives have observed abnormalities in native wildlife; meat tasting different, animals like muskrats having liver and lung spots, and caribou having "runny" bone marrow. On Alaska Native Science Commission's website, Cochran had another presentation that she referenced when she spoke, called 'Impact of Climate Change on Alaska Native Communities, which blamed the possible sources of pollutants on mines, military sites, chemicals used for dust control, vehicle oil leaks, fire retardants, acid rain, local sources of contaminants ranging from fuel tanks, asbestos, lead based paint, and pulp mills. Due to the contaminants found in local foods, many are now relying on store bought goods. This shift is resulting in an increased intake of carbohydrates and saturated fats, and is projected to increase western-type diseases among the population in the future, having possible negative impacts on the health of these communities. But the Inuits have already begun to see changes in their health, and more people are dying from stomach cancer, ulcers and other cancers than before.

The Inuit people are not the only indigenous group experiencing these threats of food security, it is being felt everywhere. In April 2009, 300 indigenous representatives from 7 regions of the world came together in Anchorage, Alaska to discuss among other climate change issues, food security. As quoted from UNEP's publication called 'The Environmental Food Crisis,' "The current world food crisis is the result of the combined effects of competition for cropland from the growth in bio-fuels, low cereal stocks, high oil prices, speculation in food markets and extreme weather events". Groups like Patricia Cochran's, FAO, and others are working towards safer food supply for all.

Young and Future Generations Day

Today was a very exciting day at the conference because it was Young and Future Generations Day. This was a perfect day for youth to make themselves known at the conference. So with YOUNGO, SustainUS, WAGGS, and other NGO's we had the opportunity to participate in actions to get the negotiators attention.

The first action of the day involved the t-shirts we got that show various profiles of youth on the front and a quote from COP15 on the back that says, "You have been negotiating all my life, You cannot tell me you need more time." With our shirts on we lined the entryway from the buses into the Cancunmesse in silence with our hands behind out backs as all the negotiators passed by. It was amazing to hear all the words of encouragement from people who walked by us. Many people took pictures and videos; some media members interviewed various youth standing in the line.

The second action of the day was performing the climate dance. It was performed at both the Cancumesse and the Moon Palace. We did the dance multiple times near the negotiator lunch area. The dance was full of energy and once again we got a lot of attention.

The final action of the day was definitely the most effective. In Cancunmesse, one of the conference centers,  there is a row of youth booths where we created a "carbon market". At the carbon market we got people's attention by yelling "we're selling out future!" Within the market we "sold" various items of the environment which represent our future. Some of the items being "sold" at the market were bits of ozone which "guaranteed no holes", the last of the melting glaciers, trees, ocean, air and more. As the people walked past us we made them hear us by asking, "How much do you think our future is worth?" We definitely got the biggest reaction and most attention from this action.  I think in total these actions really made people see that youth are here and we care.

One session today was an Intergenerational Inquiry on Climate Change where we heard different youth perspectives on the way that youth are participating in finding solutions to climate change. Specifically, the focus was on Article 6 of the UNFCCC Convention which addresses the issue of climate change education as well as public awareness. This session was full of energy right off the bat. The opening speaker  was a man from Jamaica who showed a music video on climate change that was created by Jamaican youth, in which one of the lines was, “see the signs they all reveal that global climate change is real.” During the song all the speakers stood up and starting dancing, as well as the majority of the audience.

The second speaker was a girl named Hillary Boehman from Australia. She spoke about how even after the disappointment of COP15 youth still have faith in COP16. She expressed how youth are hoping for an effective post 2012 agreement. Australia has participated in Powershift events in which a massive amount of youth participated in actions that support efficient energy solutions. Her point was just to say that youth are capable of big things and are willing to do whatever they can to get solutions.

The final speaker at the session was the Executive Secretary of theUNFCCC, Christiana Figueres from Costa Rica. She told us that climate change is the most complex challenge that humanity has ever faced and that nothing has been so big since the industrial revolution. She explained that because this problem involves everyone we have to create a structured plan with consensus among all governments and this is very difficult to accomplish. She pointed out that youth have the advantage of technology; we are masters of social networking and therefore we should not let national boundaries hold us back. She ended by saying that climate change isn't our future, it is now, and the time to act is now. At the end of her speech she got very emotional and it was very easy to see how passionate she is about this. It was a great experience to see and hear her speak.

Presidents and Mexico on Climate Change

Ed. note:  The delegates from SES are at the COP16 with student delegates from our partner school, the International American School of Cancun.  IAS is serving as our host institution during our time in Mexico and we are extremely appreciative of both their generosity and the contributions of their student delegates to our efforts here, including blog entries like this one.

It was an eventful day today: turns out COP 16 is full of surprises! We started off by walking around the NGO booths. Even after a day of conference, I still feel overwhelmed at the fact that I'm surrounded by every important organization in the world. I found the courage to go to the Yale booth and talk to them; turns out the guy was Mexican! He told me all about the Latino community at the University and how great an experience it is to study there. It feels good to dream.

After lining up to get free t-shirts, we went to an exclusive question and answer session with Patricia Espinosa, the President of COP 16. It felt oddly pleasant to be right in front of such an important figure and being able to hear what she had to say to the Youth; the generation who's feeling the strongest impact of Climate Change. After the session, I went up to her, to meet a fellow Mexican woman, and ask her about renewable energy in Cancun. Of course I didn't forget to get a picture, too!

I wrapped up the day beautifully by going to a side-event led by Mexico to talk about how Climate Change affects Latin America. It was extremely interesting to learn thoroughly about where we stand as a country and region. The panel was full of strong Mexican women who are basically in charge of taking over, and pushing for a greener Mexico. They're the heads of all those organizations that are trying to steer our environment in a smarter direction. However, after listening to all those issues, mistakes, and urgent needs we have, I don't know if I feel wiser, or utterly confused. It seems we have a huge load of work to do, and it is difficult to know where to start.

Camilla Rodriguez
International American School of Cancun

Climate Related Water Scarcity in the Seychelles

Today was a busy day at the Cancunmesse. We started off the day planning out which events we wanted to attend. There were many sessions that seemed exceedingly interesting, but we finally decided on 3 different sessions that the whole delegation wanted to attend. First, we went to a session on indigenous people in the Arctic and small island states with a focus on food and water security. Second, we went to a session informing us on indigenous views on REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). Lastly, we attended a session titled “Where do we stand in terms of gender and women”. All of these sessions were very interesting but the one I want to focus on is the one about indigenous people in the Arctic and small island states.

During this session there were four speakers, but there was one we unanimously decided was our favorite speaker so far, Ambassador Ronny Jumeau. He is the the ambassador to the UN for the Seychelles. The Seychelles are a group of islands off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. The main focus of the ambassador's speech was the issue of water security. He noted that it was not normal for him to be doing a session with people speaking about the Arctic, but he said “the small island states have as much necessity to save the arctic as the people of the arctic do. If they go, we go too”. With that statement he proceeded to explain the issue of fresh water in the Seychelles today. There has been record low amounts of rain this year in the Seychelles, in fact on the third largest island there has been only one percent of the rain total they usually get this time of year. Only one percent! Something I found very interesting was how the Seychelles are a big tourism hub, and how that is related to the fresh water problem. Tourists use a lot of water, and there isn't enough water to spare as is. This has made the government ask the hotels to build there own desalination plants, which are very expensive and fickle pieces of machinery. This has raised the price for tourists to stay at the hotels. His speech related to the arctic, water, tourism, and what is happening today. The whole idea is much more complex than most people would imagine.

Overall, today was a very busy day. It was worth all the hustle and bustle to learn all this new information about the indigenous views of climate change and how it is affecting them. We are really getting a feel for the conference and will keep up the blogging on all our new ideas.

COP 16 President Patricia Espinosa

Today was the second day of the conference.  Transport to Cancunmesse was a lot smoother; the stop-and-go traffic we experienced on Day 1 was gone. All of the buzz surrounding the first day of the conference seems to have quieted down a bit.  Now that we have a feel for the conference, we can begin to branch out and absorb more content.

As a group, we decided to first attend an event at the Moon Palace. Ms. Patricia Espinosa, Secretary of Foreign Affairs for Mexico and the president of COP16, lead a discussion with youth at the conference, answering questions about Mexico’s policies towards climate change.  Mexico recognizes the importance of the issue, and also the importance of the need for predictable funding to combat climate change. She stated that she was “cautiously optimistic” about a decision being reached by the end of the conference to establish a fund to help Mexico along its path of mitigation. The session ended with Mexican Congressman Moreno  encouraging us to “not respect all of the laws”  (push the status quo) and to “be a little crazy” (tap into the passion of the youth movement) in our actions to combat climate change, because ultimately, the fate of the global environment rests in the hands of today’s youth.

After the session at Moon Palace, we ate lunch at the newly discovered restaurant paradise, and then we split up into small groups and attended sessions that were more specifically linked in some way to our designated topics. Now that we have had the chance to scope out the conference and dip our toes into the water, we can begin to focus more on our individual obligations of information transfer back to SES and the community. Each of us have our own specific pieces of the puzzle that we need to learn more about and we will share information about these pieces with you over the coming days.

We ended the day by once again meeting with YOUNGO (constituency of youth related NGOs). The meeting was primarily for planning, specifically for the event on December 2^nd. Through creative advertising, YOUNGO hopes to get the point across to negotiators at the conference that ultimately, the issue primarily concerns future generations. The ideas promoted at the meeting seemed like wonderful, creative ways to spread the message effectively and memorably. Hopefully, when the events come to play, YOUNGO will be successful in its efforts.  

We’re continuing to adapt more and more to the environment of the conference. We’re looking forward to tomorrow, and a healthy and efficient next week-and-a-half.