The word on the wind

Posted on 11. Dec, 2010 by annac in United Kingdom | View Comments

Verdict day is here, the clock has subtly slipped past the midnight hour and Saturday smoothly sails into our consciousness with a question hanging in the wind. What did we do here? What did we achieve?

24 hours to believe in the impossible. To believe that the wind blowing in off the Caribbean could bring with it the faint whisper of hope, of a new way forward, of change we can believe in.

And as we sit in the hubbub of a hotel lobby usually clam and tranquil at this time of night. As we sit waiting for the last few hours to slip by, for the 21^st, 22^nd, 23^rd, 24^th, to tick slowly past. For the speakers so patiently waiting to speak to be given their turn. As we sit, watch and wait, the wind that blows in through the doors is whispering something we hardly dare to believe.

Applause filters down from the rooms above, I see smiling and laughing faces descending the escalators, the calm spirit of compromise that is seeping through the rooms, is also seeping into our thoughts.

It is still too early to completely call what we will see, where the wind is taking this ship. With the informal plenary finished, and the working groups making progress, we have 2 plenaries to get through. But it’s time for decisions to be made.

And the word on the wind is compromise.

The texts we saw come out earlier in the day have broad support. No one is completely happy. But if anyone was completely happy then compromise would not be on the table.

And maybe at this time of night, as the hours slip by, as the speakers continue, we are not looking for happy. We are looking for content.

Because just as consumption beyond contentment is the root of why we are here. Contentment with comprimise could be our sailboat out.

“and we applauded as the future was driven away in a van”

Posted on 11. Dec, 2010 by annac in United Kingdom | View Comments

Inside the un plenary hall on the last day of cop 16 negotiators are applauding the transparency of the process. Outside 20 of my friends have just been forcibly put in a bus and removed from the process.

Removed because they continued to count the number of deaths from climate change this year, one by one, aloud, together. Removed because they continued to count past the time the secretariat had permitted.

Because you see civil society are allowed to participate here. Our voices are welcomed in this conference. Oh wait, but only between 3pm and 4pm. Oh and if there could just be 15 of you, Oh and flags no, no, they’re nor permitted.

There is a difference between participating and being heard. There is a difference between being here and being valued.

Over the course of this week restrictions on civil society voices have been tightened and tightened. Now we have got to the point where 20 of my friends were just manhandled by security guards for counting. Counting outside. Counting under the stars on a breezy Mexican night. Not blocking anyone’s way or stopping any negotiations from going on. Not interfering in the process at all.

Simply counting the people for whom this process has moved too slowly.

Negotiators inside were applauding. Outside we were booing. Booing as young people who will live with the decisions those negotiators make were treated like criminals. Booing as the process here was really laid bare. Booing as the future was bundled into a van.

But as they drove away we applauded.

Applauded our friends for standing up for their beliefs.

Applauded for a future that’s worth fighting for.

“Those who make peaceful resistance impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable” - JFK

Climate justice action blocks the hallway

Posted on 10. Dec, 2010 by annac in United Kingdom | View Comments

As we wait, as we wonder, as the frustration rises, as the end comes closer and no progress is in sight. As we wait in the frantic frenzy of the moon palace, it is inevitable emotions will bubble over.

Actions are a way we as civil society are allowed to have our voices heard here at the unfccc, however over the last few days restrictions on them have become fiercer and fiercer.

We just saw the first of the frustration bubble over with a group of about 10 people blocking one of the hallways here in the moon palace. They were from climate justice groups and they were calling out the unfccc process. They were bringing into the process the voices of indigenous people, of vulnerable people, of the people who this process should be about.

They remained for about 15 minutes before being forcibly removed by security.

Lets see what the rest of this day brings. As we wait, as we wonder, as frustration continues to rise, is this just the beginning?

See more pics from the event on Adopt a Negotiator’s flickr page