Maria at the UN in Bonn – Journey

bcclimatechampions — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:16:21 +0000

So, I’m on my way to Bonn, to represent the British Council at the climate negotiations again. I guess I will be doing the same in Bonn as I did in Cancun, Mexico, ie. support YOUNGO (what’s that? See here: http://youthclimate.org/ ) in any way I can and keeping you guys updated about what’s going on (or what’s not) at the negotiations. I’m so looking forward to meeting all my friends from Cancun again! But of course it’s not going to be the same in many ways, Bonn is smaller, there’s less people there, and the negotiations will not move forward in the same way as in Cancun. But I hope that after Bonn, we would see clearly what to expect of Durban. I will be in Bonn only the second week. But luckily we all can follow the negotiations live on the UNFCCC homepage.

So follow what’s going on here: http://unfccc.int/

You can read my blogposts from Cancun here: http://enterculture.org/?cat=5

Trains and planes

I don’t understand why anyone would travel by train anymore. Flying is fast, cheap, easy and convinient. Travelling by train is slow, expensive, complicated and uncomfortable. But I love travelling by train! You really feel that you are travelling, moving from one place to another. When flying somewhere, it takes a couple of days to realise that you’r not home anymore. In the train you have time to go through this mindsetting process. It’s great to see the landscape change outside the window, and follow how the sun creates different light settings during different times of the day. In the train you easily find someone to talk to, when in the plane you rarely start talking to the person sitting next to you. And all the backpackers reminds me of my interrail trip I did when I was 18! When booking my night train from Copenhagen to Bonn, all the sleeping cabins had already been booked. I hope this is because the climate negotiators are walking the talk, and not flying to the negotiations.

P.S. Loving the windmills you see along the way and the solarpanels on the roofs of yksityistalot!

Welcome to Bonn

bcclimatechampions — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:54:45 +0000

The UN Climate Talks are under way once again in Bonn, home to the UNFCCC.
British Council has brought three Champions to the talks, to engage with other young climate organisations and the decision makers here at the conference.

So what’s at stake?
This intersessional (SB34) is a huge opportunity to make headway on agreeing to a new climate deal in Durban at COP17. With the Kyoto Protocol set to run out next year, this is the last year to find a replacement without leaving a gap between countries’ commitments to reduce their carbon emissions.

Our young people are:
Wilson Ang, Singapore – founder of ECO Singapore and YOUNGO Veteran
Maria Vuorelma, Finland -
Tania Yaoska Guillen Bolanos, Nicaragua -

We’ll be blogging here and across the social networks, as well as vlogging on www.youtube.com/bcclimatechampions.

We’ve also had Fiona from Germany and Barry from Ireland here for training and to represent the UKYCC. So watch out for guest appearances in our coverage from them too!

Keep coming back for updates!

Sophie

Next steps

bcclimatechampions — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:36:39 +0000

I’ve just posted the declaration that was signed at the Forum – an epic moment, as Amy alludes to in her post.

What next? Well, the faith leaders all made pledges as well as signing the declaration, and they were certainly inspired to start making a difference. We hope to support them in keeping in touch so they can support each other in their programmes.

The British Council’s global team will soon be meeting to plan work for the years ahead and I know the work with faith leaders will be high on my agenda. The African example of networking and support could be replicated in other countries and continents and we’ll also be thinking about how to support ongoing plans that came out of Abuja. Keep an eye on the British Council’s climate change pages over the coming months.

Christine

The declaration

bcclimatechampions — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:28:53 +0000

Declaration on Climate Change

Interfaith Forum on Climate Change for Sub-Saharan Africa, Abuja, February 2010

As leaders of faith communities in Africa, we commit to highlighting the very real threat to the world’s people and to our fragile creation, from the threat of catastrophic climate change. In all our religious teachings and Holy Scriptures, it is clearly stated that protecting and taking care of nature and human life is one of the main instructions of our Creator, and human beings are guardians of this earth.

Climate Change threatens to greatly increase poverty, disease and conflict in Africa. Africa has already been impacted by climate change through more floods, droughts and extreme weather conditions – but it is least equipped technically and financially to deal with climate-related risks. Subsistence farming, the main source of Africa’s food, is being threatened by climate change because it mainly relies on rainfall that is becoming increasingly erratic. Climate change may increase competition for diminishing water resources that will force people to become ‘climate change refugees’, posing challenges to peace and security in the region.

Faith leaders have a crucial role to play in pressing for changes in behaviour at every level of society. We all have a responsibility to learn and teach how to live and develop sustainably in a world of finite resources. We stress the following as our action points:

Capacity building for faith leaders. Where possible, we will endeavour to undertake training in climate change issues.
We commit to raising awareness of environmental ethics in our religious activities and dedicate one sermon at least once a month for issues related to climate change and environmental degradation.
We commit to emphasising relevant verses in the Holy Books related to the environment. It is the responsibility of every believer to keep the earth clean and healthy for human life.
We commit to sharing best practices and strengthen existing structures and practices to implement agreed positive actions for adapting to climate change and preventing environmental degradation. We commit to advising our communities how to behave in their daily activities.
We commit to working together with leaders of different faiths and engage with government, private sector, educational institutions, youth and civil society organisations in Africa and the region. We should also involve and work with policy-makers and, where possible, hold them accountable.
We commit to ensuring that we are a part of regional and national talks and (legal) agreements
We commit to working together to hold developed countries to account for a reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases so that global warming is below 2 C Degree and advocate for an Adaptation or Global Climate Fund.

To help to achieve these ends, we agree to use today’s meeting as the first step in an ongoing process of collaboration. We believe our communities can be key agents of change and urge the Government and the international community, wherever possible, to support our efforts to build capacity, raise awareness and promote sustainable practice.

The End! Or just the beginning?

bcclimatechampions — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:31:41 +0000

Hi, it’s Amy again. So – success! The declaration was signed, and the atmosphere was great – respectful, with great feelings of wanting to move forward together across faiths, and to work with all stakeholders. Determination and drive. I want to say it’s a great ending, but I think it’s more of a beginning! With this commitment to action, I think that successful change can happen. The commitment was, for many, alredy there, but now, with a feeling that there are others on board, and having heard and discussed such a wide range of issues, listening to examples of good practice and potential models, I think people really feel they are able to go forward. And I believe they will.

The ICCs were great – real fiery, strong presenters! They got everyone in a really positive, excited mood right at the end, making the room buzz with a desire to go forward and make a difference.

I have to go now, but don’t worry – I’ll be back. I am going to India now, and who knows what I will discover about this issue over there! I hope to continue to share with you all!

gtf

SUCCESS!

bcclimatechampions — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:22:52 +0000

An amazing end to a fascinating couple of days. The atmosphere in the room was uplifting and excited as first we listened to our Climate Champions address the faith leaders directly. Confident, smiling and dealing with topical aspects to the climate change issue such as misunderstanding and the Champions won over the faith leaders, who cheered and clapped as the young leaders of the future stated their intentions to save the world, and asked for guidance and support from the faith leaders of their communities.

This si one of the strengths of the ICC programme – giving the young people a voice, a place at the table – a chance to express their points of view and be listened to and taken seriously by some of the most respected members of the African community. In this case the young leaders did us proud and made their points very well.

We went on to the signing of the InterFaith Declaration itself. It was a very moving moment as the Archbishop of Nigeria, the Sheikh Gariballah of Sudan and others leaned down and put pen to paper on this Declaration, the first of its kind in Africa. Each of the faith leaders have also made a personal pledge, a statement of intent, a promise, to perform some kind of measurable action back in their own communities.

The texts of the Declaration and the personal Commitments will be made . available through this and other sites shortly. In the meantime, the faith leaders and the Climate Champions are all relaxing after a remarkable achievement – and everyone has grins stuck to their faces!!!

End of the climate and faith comfrence.

bcclimatechampions — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:07:16 +0000

we have ended by signing the joint decleration.

FAITH AND CLIMATE

bcclimatechampions — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:30:02 +0000

What have i done wrong ,What am i doing to correct my wrong. This are the questions we are tackling out at the climate and faith comfrence . We as a nation have and are still treating our fragile creation in a harsh manner unknowingly.though we were ignorant of the damages we caused through burning, deforestration and other activities we carry out but now that we know…we can change the world and make it a better place to be by Educating people on the danger of various activities to the community and the nation at large.By enforcing laws to guide our activities.The most important one is carrying out our plans of making the world a better place.in order to do all this,we need to be united in faith respecting the fact that it is all God’s creation.Remember, we only have one blue planet and we have to live it better than we met it.

Committing ourselves to change

bcclimatechampions — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:24:26 +0000

We’re now in the final part of the event where all our faith leaders are debating their declaration and writing down their promises. I have been amazed and delighted bby the response we have had. Almost everyone in the room has now written down a personal pledge, made a private personal commitment on what they will do when they return to their countries. The atmosphere is buzzing as people start to talk about what they are actually going to DO about this, how they are going to help, whata ction they are going to take. It’s uplifting and exciting.

Day 2

bcclimatechampions — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:33:25 +0000

Hi, Amy again. Day 2 is under way, after a pleasant, balmy evening mixing and chatting with participants at a reception yesterday evening. Everyone here is passionate about the cause and today, there is much sharing of good practice, and talk of practical steps forward. There will be further discussion of the Interfaith Declaration soon, at which point myself and my younger colleagues – the ICCs – will take the chance to finalise our own ideas for the presentation we will give. We will stress the importance of young people, as well as faith groups, in tackling climate change. The ICCs will highlight issues of importance that they felt emerged from the proceedings, including: education and knowledge, misunderstandings of the issue, faith leaders as models, and policy-making. Points of action, including potential models for replication, will also be mentioned. The ICCs seem enthusiastic and prepared. More to follow after! Greener through Faith…