Copenhagen Climate Change Conference

Krisy

The setting

Krisy Moore, Joanna Dafoe and Melody Mirzaagha support youth voices at the Copenhagen negotiations by wearing the  Youth Caucus T-shirts: "How old will you be in 2050?

There is much to say about the climate negotiations that took place in Copenhagen this past December and, as such, writing this blog post is somewhat of a difficult assignment. First, perhaps it would be best to describe the atmosphere and physical location of the gathering. At times, the climate negotiations felt more like a massive two-week indoor music festival (without the music) than a UN gathering. The meetings brought thousands of people (over 15,000 just in the first week) from all over the world together in one venue—the Bella Center. The diverse crowds of environmentalists, students, indigenous, women’s rights, health and anti-poverty activists, concerned citizens, scientists, government officials and media personnel made walking around the 77,000 square-meter building a daunting task.

Some of the Bahá'í International Community's delegates on a mission to find dinner.

Having only attended the first week of the negotiations, I can only discuss the happenings that took place during that time. If you ask anyone present for the first few days of the gathering what the atmosphere was like, undoubtedly their answers would contain words such as ‘intense,’ ‘energetic,’ ‘exciting,’ and ‘passionate.’ They would probably also describe the opening days as ‘stressful,’ ‘overwhelming,’ and ‘hectic.’ What I found particularly amazing about the events of the first week were the creative expressions of activism that members of civil society staged in the hallways, cafeterias, and various other locations within the Bella Centre. Such actions ranged from banners with slogans calling for an end to the Canadian Tar Sands, chanting, impromptu plays, comedic and satirical magic shows about carbon trading, a group of aliens walking through the Bella Centre asking to be taken to the ‘climate leaders,’ songs, a youth led ‘rainstorm’ and much more. There was no shortage of meetings, lectures or actions to attend.

The Bahá'í International Community’s delegation

One of the many creative actions that occurred in the hallways of the Bella Centre.

The Bahá'í International Community’s delegation consisted of 21 people from all over the world. I was so impressed with this group—I had no idea how many knowledgeable, successful and active Bahá'ís were working on environmental issues in various capacities. In fact, Bahá'ís established the International Environmental Forum a professional organization, with over 215 members in 56 countries across five continents, that facilitates learning about the application of spiritual and ethical principles to the challenges of the environment and sustainable development.

The Bahá'í International Community’s delegation included academics, scientists, environmental and social justice activists, medical professionals, students, farmers, concerned citizens and development professionals. We joined numerous working groups (including, but not limited to the Women’s Caucus and the Youth Caucus). The members of our delegation attended morning press conferences held by their home governments; attended various lectures on topics such as climate change and human rights; and collaborated with many participating NGOs—sharing the Bahá'í International Community’s statement on climate change as well as contributing to the discourse language and concepts that illumined the necessity for unity and oneness as driving forces for sustainable solutions to climate change.

Opening session of the negotiations.

The Bahá'í community of Denmark extended to the BIC delegates the utmost hospitality and generosity. They graciously opened their homes to the delegates and worked tirelessly to host evening discussions and events at the Copenhagen Bahá'í Centre. Drawing on the expertise of the Danish Bahá'í community as well as the Bahá'í International Community’s delegates, discussions at the Bahá'í Centre focused on topics such as alternative energy, gender and climate change, the role of religious communities in combating climate change.  These events were well attended and attracted delegates from various NGOs. After a day of racing to attend meetings and lectures at the Bella Centre to attend the evening gatherings at the Bahá'í Centre, I was always so happy and grateful for the opportunity to indulge in the amazing food that was provided after each event!

A concerned citizen marched through the streets of Copenhagen carrying this sign.

I felt really proud of the accomplishments of the Bahá'í International Community’s delegation at the climate negotiations. Discussions about the ethical dimensions of climate change were widespread throughout the gathering, which afforded us the space to make frequent contributions to the conversations. We connected and collaborated with passionate and hardworking people, met members of our governments, distributed our statement, and worked consciously to attend the conference with an attitude of service. I learned so much from this experience. When I returned home to Canada, I wrote an essay for my graduate Security Studies class that explored the ways in which climate change is impacting the security of women in the developing world. I was able to use many of the materials I received during the negotiations to guide my research. I would like to turn this paper into a presentation that I will share with others in my community.