Of 1,500 Youth Advocates Accredited For COP 15, 12 Allowed To Attend Final Session

[hatrack]

Because, you see, it's all about the children.

The anger in Juan Carlos Soriano’s voice was clear when he rose to a podium in the Bella Center Friday afternoon. And it was easy to understand why: the climate-treaty talks were (and still are at this writing) stuck between competing draft texts, none of which offer plans to keep global warming within safe scientific limits.

Another reason: Of the more-than 1,500 youth advocates accredited for the conference, all but 12 were locked out of the Bella Center on Friday—because of space constraints, according to the United Nations. Only one of them got to address delegates in the main plenary hall—Soriano, a 23-year-old college student from Peru. He gave voice to the frustration of those on the outside:

“We have all worked for the past two years for the promise of a strong deal in Copenhagen to safeguard our future,” he said. “Now it seems you will not get it done. This is unacceptable. We placed our trust in you. You should be ashamed.”

The outcome of the negotiations remains unclear and they could well slog on into the weekend. It’s also too early to know what Copenhagen means for the climate-change youth movement—the young adults trying to wrest control of the ecological future from the worlds power-brokers. If this proves to be a coming-of-age moment for the movement, if it emerges bigger, louder, and better organized next year, well, that would be a significant outcome from Copenhagen too. At the opening session of the climate talks two weeks ago, Christina Ora, a 17-year-old from the Solomon Islands, told the assembled delegates, “I was born in 1992. You have been negotiating all my life. You cannot tell us that you need more time.”

EDIT

http://www.grist.org/article/2009-12-19-peruvian-youth-copenhagen-climate/

[pscot]

1. I think they just told us

they need more time. The kids, of course, have the most to lose. If they aren't seriously pissed, they ought to be.

[joshcryer]

2. Hell, COP15 would have done better if it was *only* the youth, since it is they who would be most...

...affected by inaction.