Ramblings on international meetings... (and stuff)

I mentioned in an earlier blog that I have a lot to say in regards to “Internationalism”. Not that this is overly relevant, but I'm on a plane from London to Turkey right now. The day before that I was in Nairobi. The day before that I was in Tanzania. A week before that I was in rural South Africa. And in a couple of weeks I'll be back home in Canada. Can't get much more international than that. Also can't get much more of a carbon footprint. Yikes!! Will have to do some serious (and well-researched) off-setting when I get home. Mind you, I have various thoughts about that too. Anyhow – all of this jet-setting definitely highlights the need for some international initiatives and leadership regarding climate change and the effect that us humans are having on the planet.

This flight started over 7 months ago when I flew to the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban to lead a delegation of environmental educators with the goal of using the conference as a platform for climate change education amongst local youth. I suppose I have gotten a lot more mileage out of that original flight than most conference-goers, who were flying back across oceans just a few weeks after arriving in Durban. I, at least, spent more than half a year on the continent. There is always debate about the amount of carbon expended to get people to these conferences, but if you look at the science it is actually a moot point, and one that I don't really engage in anymore. We still need conferences like this. We need the buzz that is created by so many people being together in the same place for similar reasons. I am more jaded than you can get about the UNFCCC process, but I still see positive things coming out of the conferences. And that comes from the people who fly themselves there to participate. What people can accomplish in two weeks is absolutely amazing (and no I'm not referring to the negotiators sitting behind closed doors who are supposed to be saving our species from some unknown pending doom). I am talking about the researchers, the NGO members, the youth, the academics and some of the businesses who flock to these events to work together and to try to create change. They work and work and work. And the passion is overflowing from every room. And people are producing, creating and accomplishing. Connections are made that lead to later productivity. Ideas are shared. Learning happens. Minds open. A LOT of good things come out of these meetings. Just no solid plan for our future. No useful policy. After three of these meetings I swore I would never go back. But then I did. But with a different plan. I went back to utilize this buzz. I went back with the goal of engaging the local community and local youth in the discussions and the process. It was an amazing platform for education, and we used it to the best of our ability.

Our awesome FUN-Del to Durban! In the middle of our first meeting, at midnight, we ran outside to enjoy the epic tropical storm.
Very sadly, while we were having a blast jumping in puddles, others weren't so lucky.  Not to be all doom and gloom about the environment or anything... but on the eve of COP17, the UN Climate Change conference there were flash floods and at least 9 people in the Durban area died.  Many nearby villages were destroyed.  So sad. But too fitting.

Whether or not a truly fair, ambitious and binding deal will ever come from these meetings, I'm not so sure. I have my doubts. But what is the alternative? To just stop talking about these things? I don't have an answer. So in the meantime, I accept that they will continue, I see the positive things that are coming out of them, and if I choose to be involved with them I hope that I can get the most leverage out of them to do good for the community. Rio+20 is on right now, and I'm sure it will be similar in nature. I know that all the people who have flocked there will do amazing things, and movements will be created. Our social fabric will slightly shift. We will move a little bit in the right direction. More people will have their eyes and minds opened. But will the world be saved? Probably not quite yet.