Iowans at Copenhagen Climate Change Conference; UPDATE: more from Iowans and Obama

The latest from Copenhagen on the third draft report:

http://en.cop15. dk/news/view+ news?newsid= 3062

http://www.guardian .co.uk/environme nt/blog/2009/ dec/18/copenhage n-climate- change-summit- liveblog

UPDATE: Andrea Niehaus sent more today about the Iowa delegation attending the climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark:

This morning, the Iowa student delegation to COP15 left breakfast full of excitement, hope (and toast). Even though the students, along with thousands of other COP15 NGO delegates, will be unable to attend the Conference at the Bella Center in Copenhagen today, their president, Barack Obama, is scheduled to address COP15 this morning. As the exact time was unannounced, the students headed back to their rooms in groups to wait anxiously tuned into CNN Denmark on their rooms' TVs. Students first heard Brazilian president Lula's commanding speech highlighting his frustration at Conference proceedings that had him at meetings until 2am the previous night. Lula outlined all the steps Brazil has taken to show the world at this Conference that Brazil, a rapidly developing nation, is committed to working with the international community on climate change. He stated that when his term as president began his primarily target was to ensure that all Brazilians could have three meals a day. Even as his country works toward this goal, they are also extremely committed to dealing with climate change and have pledged reductions of 36.1-38.9% despite having to undertake massive changes in the agriculture fuel, forestry and energy matrix sectors. If the world needs more, Brazil is willing to pledge funds from its already limited pocketbook to help other perhaps more limited developing nations in order to produce a document out of Copenhagen. The students murmered awe and approval at Lula's comments but were soon shushed and then holding their breath as Obama appeared on the screen. Obama began strong calling for less talk and more action. But as his speech went on, it became obvious action didn't mean hammering out a treaty in these last few precious hours. It meant hammering out details that may lead to a later deal. He was firm in his plan: American will continue to mitigate energy emissions. America wants transparency. America will commit to financing for developing countries at the earlier announced target of 10 billion through fast start investing and continue to try to develop an international plan for 100 billion by 2012. Obama said "We are willing to get this done today but cooperation is needed on all sides." A clear message to the Chinese. In Chinese premier Wen's speech today, he stuck to his previous position: a firm national commitment to sustainability and climate change mitigation but called on historical responsibility for climate change. A clear message to the US. Both leaders committing to work on this issue nationally is certainly good news but not the kind the students, nor Copenhagen, nor the world was looking for. It means the US and China are deadlocked in negotiations. It means the 110 leaders that are here today for COP15 will have to meet again in the future to continue talks. And it means the students will have to find a way to cheer themselves up and they will have to find a way over to Mexico City when talks resume.

Obama said "We are willing to get this done today but cooperation is needed on all sides." A clear message to the Chinese.

In Chinese premier Wen's speech today, he stuck to his previous position: a firm national commitment to sustainability and climate change mitigation but called on historical responsibility for climate change. A clear message to the US.

Both leaders committing to work on this issue nationally is certainly good news but not the kind the students, nor Copenhagen, nor the world was looking for. It means the US and China are deadlocked in negotiations. It means the 110 leaders that are here today for COP15 will have to meet again in the future to continue talks. And it means the students will have to find a way to cheer themselves up and they will have to find a way over to Mexico City when talks resume.

Here is more of what Andrea noted in the last couple days, as well as more from Copenhagen below:

NGO participation at COP15 has been cut from 7,000 allowed in the Bella Center Tuesday and Wednesday of this week to 1,000 today and 500 Friday. As a result, side events have sprung up all around Copenhagen as delegates look for ways to continue to be engaged in climate change discussions and activities even though they are no longer officially allowed into the Bella Center.

Tonight I attended such an event. It was a movie premier held by the Environmental Education Media Project (EEMP) at the Natural History Museum of Denmark in the Geological History section. There, among remains of a tyrannosaurus rex and prehistoric cavemen, John Liu showed his brilliant 30 minute documentary, Hope in a Changing Climate, to a mixed assortment of UN personnel, World Bank employees, NGO delegates to COP15, the official Rwandan delegation to COP15, Americans, Tanzanians, and self proclaimed concerned citizens of Copenhagen and others.

The film sent the first positive message I've seen since Tuesday, when it became ominously apparent that the much anticipated COP15 climate treaty negotiations had taken a serious turn for the ugly. His film follows a 12 year environmental restoration project on the Loess Plateau of China, the wetlands of Rwanda and the drought-stricken lands of Ethiopia.

In each country, the project recruited local citizens to help restore natural vegetation to change the landscape from barren, low crop yield territory to lush, highly arable land. In China's Loess Plateau for example, before the project, 90% of the land was being farmed but yields were still low. After the project, local trees and grasses planted there helped to retain water, stop mud slides and droughts. Now in the same area, only 15% of the land is being farmed but yields have increased. Farmers income has increased by 3 times. The projects in Rwanda and Ethopia have produced similar results.

The project has produced international results as well. Restoration of native plants to a region creates root systems and greenery that naturally absorb carbon dioxide. The Loess Plateau spans 4 of China's provinces and covers 640,000 km2 of land. Restoring even a part of that land to its natural ecological system produces huge results and helps contain carbon that would otherwise stay in the atmosphere in the world's number one polluter country.

Jonathan J. Halperin, Executive Director of the Environmental Education Media Project, suggests the continuation of similar projects. John Liu waited patiently after the screening and discussion to listen to gracious viewers' remarks and thanks and happily distributed his business cards to those bending his ear about doing similar projects and films in their home countries. And I had to say, I know there are similar projects and research being conducted at Iowa State....

With the world's leaders deadlocked in COP15 negotiations the eve to the end of the Conference, it gives me hope again in Hopenhagen that if governments cannot agree to be bound by an international treaty to combat climate change, citizens like John Liu and Jonathan Halperin, the people of the Loess Plateau, citizens in Rwanda and Ethiopia are taking matters into their own hands and finding solutions that work. For anyone that needs a little hope in a changing climate, I encourage you to watch the film at: http://hopeinachangingclimate.org/

Last night I hopped the wrong bus in Copenhagen despite all of the routes being clearly marked. It wasn't until I recognized the windmill powering the Bella Center, site of COP15, the fifteenth United Nations Conference on Climate Change, that I realized I was headed the opposite direction of my hotel. I was dropped off at the last stop before the bus headed back to the bus barn for the night. It was at that last stop I began to really think about what Hopenhagen, as the locals have deemed their city, really means. At nearly 1 am, I caught a bus to the metro, and the metro to a bus, and then walked through neatly shoveled sidewalks as huge flakes of snow floated down on Freidricksberg Alle. Hopenhagen is an idea of what can happen in terms of battling climate change. In Denmark, citizens hope that the world's nations can come to an agreement to work together toward a cleaner environment, sustainable energy and a decrease in carbon emissions. And the world can learn a lesson in sustainability from Copenhagen. In Copenhagen, public transportation is a well laid plan, easily accessible and easily navigable. Orderly traffic moves quickly and free of traffic jams. Bus lanes line the outside of all the streets making it easy for buses to zoom to their designated stops every 10 minutes. Bike lanes line the outside of all the bus lanes and are raised and clearly identified. Bicyclists take full advantage of the lanes and are almost as numerous as cars on the street. Even far out on the city's edge where I ended up late on a Wednesday night, sidewalks line the outside of all bike lanes. In addition to convenient and energy saving public transportation in Copenhagen, Denmark has over 5,000 windmills including the picturesque wind farm off the shores of Copenhagen and the aforementioned one powering the Bella Center. As the blades of that windmill turn to generate power to the Bella Center, however the negotiations of COP15 have almost ground to a halt. COP15 is scheduled to end on Friday. It turns out that in the negotiations in which many hoped would 'seal the deal,' the framework of the deal hasn't even been worked out. More specifically, the US and China are deadlocked in that both refuse to comply with an agreement the other won't comply with. The US is asking China to agree to cut emissions and be bound to an international treaty (even though the US failed to ratify the previous Kyoto Protocol). And China is insisting that the US had its chance to industrialize without carbon emissions restrictions and now China wants its turn. Furthermore, developing nations are frustrated with developed nations most notably the US, the world's formerly biggest carbon emitter (now number two after China by most records) is refusing to 'pay its climate debt.' Iran is using the lack of agreement to justify a nuclear power program that developed nations are certain is a thin disguise for a nuclear arms program. The EU, Japan and Australia have pledged significant carbon reductions but would commit to doing more if the US jumps on board. But the outlook is grim. Throughout Copenhagen, slogans like "The time is now for action" are slapped on metro cars, enormous displays calling for climate change action mark nearly every public square, Denmark's president has taken over from the special envoy appointed to the Conference. In a city that has set such a wonderful example of combating climate change, where there was such a feeling of hope for a binding treaty at COP15, it seems now that those feelings of hope may be thrown under the public bus.

Hopenhagen is an idea of what can happen in terms of battling climate change. In Denmark, citizens hope that the world's nations can come to an agreement to work together toward a cleaner environment, sustainable energy and a decrease in carbon emissions. And the world can learn a lesson in sustainability from Copenhagen.

In Copenhagen, public transportation is a well laid plan, easily accessible and easily navigable. Orderly traffic moves quickly and free of traffic jams. Bus lanes line the outside of all the streets making it easy for buses to zoom to their designated stops every 10 minutes. Bike lanes line the outside of all the bus lanes and are raised and clearly identified. Bicyclists take full advantage of the lanes and are almost as numerous as cars on the street. Even far out on the city's edge where I ended up late on a Wednesday night, sidewalks line the outside of all bike lanes.

In addition to convenient and energy saving public transportation in Copenhagen, Denmark has over 5,000 windmills including the picturesque wind farm off the shores of Copenhagen and the aforementioned one powering the Bella Center. As the blades of that windmill turn to generate power to the Bella Center, however the negotiations of COP15 have almost ground to a halt.

COP15 is scheduled to end on Friday. It turns out that in the negotiations in which many hoped would 'seal the deal,' the framework of the deal hasn't even been worked out. More specifically, the US and China are deadlocked in that both refuse to comply with an agreement the other won't comply with. The US is asking China to agree to cut emissions and be bound to an international treaty (even though the US failed to ratify the previous Kyoto Protocol). And China is insisting that the US had its chance to industrialize without carbon emissions restrictions and now China wants its turn.

Furthermore, developing nations are frustrated with developed nations most notably the US, the world's formerly biggest carbon emitter (now number two after China by most records) is refusing to 'pay its climate debt.'  Iran is using the lack of agreement to justify a nuclear power program that developed nations are certain is a thin disguise for a nuclear arms program. The EU, Japan and Australia  have pledged significant carbon reductions but would commit to doing more if the US jumps on board. But the outlook is grim.

Throughout Copenhagen, slogans like "The time is now for action" are slapped on metro cars, enormous displays calling for climate change action mark nearly every public square, Denmark's president has taken over from the special envoy appointed to the Conference. In a city that has set such a wonderful example of combating climate change, where there was such a feeling of hope for a binding treaty at COP15, it seems now that those feelings of hope may be thrown under the public bus.

Grinnell College student, Nathan Pavlovic, is one of a group of 30 Iowans who is in Copenhagen this week for the Climate Change conference. You can see Nathan's impressions of the conference on his blog here: : http://nathanineurope.blogspot.com/

I wrote about the Iowa delegation here: https://thegazette.com/local-news/2009/12/10/iowans-traveling-to-climate-change-convention-in-copenhagen

One of the details that people seemed most interested in was financing for the trip, which didn't make the final cut for the article. Andrea Niehaus, Co-Director of the Iowa United Nations Association, notes that support for the delegation was by Drake University Law School Agricultural Law Center, Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates, University of Iowa Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, University of Iowa Center for Human Rights, University of Iowa Office of the Provost, University of Iowa Student Government, Physicians for Social Responsibility Iowa Chapter and Rice University. Iowa students not from the University of Iowa also did personal fundraising.

Andrea is also blogging from the conference. See her update below:

12 Days of Christmas Clue #6

In about an hour I will head to the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark to witness a planned protest, a storming of the Bella Center. Thousands are expected to rush the Bella Center and most likely clash with Danish police as they 'crash' COP15. And like the protest Saturday, December 12, I suspect they will be reported in the media as protesters of the Conference and of the international agreement governments are hoping to construct there to combat climate change. However, by attempting to disrupt the talks, these thousands are not aiming to put an end to the Conference altogether. They are not protesting the cooperation of government leaders and they are not disputing the importance of reaching an international agreement to curb emissions. On the contrary, these people are hoping to pressure government leaders and COP15 official delegates to reach a binding and effective agreement that will ensure climate change will be taken seriously as a global issue and that carbon emissions will be reduced and investments will be made in clean energy technology and that developed nations will work with developing nations to share technology and pay for their 'climate debt.' Many of the expected protesters (or perhaps demonstrators is a better word) are in fact delegates of the NGO contingent running simultaneously along side COP15 in the Bella Center. These delegates have waited up to 10 hours in the cold Copenhagen winter to gain access to the Bella Center where upon entering they have participated in informative sessions and activities aimed to share information and to apply peaceful pressure on COP15 delegates working to hammer out an agreement before government leaders arrive at the Conference on Friday. These people are committed to dealing with climate change and expect their leaders to be equally committed to solving this global crisis. Initially, COP15, nicknamed "Hopenhagen," seemed it would be the Conference that would produce a binding international agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012. As time drew near for the Conference to get underway however, it became clear that Copenhagen would not produce a binding international agreement but rather lay the framework for a treaty that would come in Mexico City next year. Those who plan on protesting later today fear that if COP15 does not produce effective results, government leaders will continue to delay coming to a comprehensive agreement. Meanwhile the current trend in climate change will continue and soon it will be too late to try to reverse the effects. Inside the Conference, people from across the globe are particularly frustrated with the US who has a long tradition of noncompliance with international treaties. As Al Gore addressed the Conference yesterday, audience members squirmed as he called on developing nations to be understanding of the US' reluctance to deal with climate change as Americans fear outsourcing and a troubled economy. But developing nations, including those represented by the African delegates of G77 who walked out of talks earlier this week, are tired of being understanding. They are the ones facing the effects of climate change and have long pushed the US to work with them to reach a mutually beneficial agreement. Developing nations cannot understand why the US is reluctant to invest in the green sector for example. A move that would both pull the US economy out of its slump and also help reduce US carbon emissions that have largely contributed to the climate crisis.Mr. Gore also told COP15 delegates no agreement is better than a weak agreement. He also told the audience that Copenhagen must be a success. According to Mr. Gore, success would mean finding solutions and compromises that will be needed to reach a fair, binding and ambitious treaty next year. He suggested American and world citizens push their governments to hold the next meetings meetings on April 22, Earth Day, and to reschedule the meeting in Mexico City to be held in July rather than November of 2010 in order to put a treaty in motion and bind governments to the treaty sooner in order to deal with climate change sooner. The feeling in Copenhagen at this moment however, is that July is not soon enough. They will storm the Bella Center to demonstrate they want a treaty now.

Mr. Gore also told COP15 delegates no agreement is better than a weak agreement. He also told the audience that Copenhagen must be a success. According to Mr. Gore, success would mean finding solutions and compromises that will be needed to reach a fair, binding and ambitious treaty next year. He suggested American and world citizens push their governments to hold the next meetings meetings on April 22, Earth Day, and to reschedule the meeting in Mexico City to be held in July rather than November of 2010 in order to put a treaty in motion and bind governments to the treaty sooner in order to deal with climate change sooner. The feeling in Copenhagen at this moment however, is that July is not soon enough. They will storm the Bella Center to demonstrate they want a treaty now.