After sleeping like a baby on the plane ride here, I unfortunately spent most of last night staring at the ceiling. Have to chalk it up to jet lag more so than anything else. (This is my excuse for any incoherency that follows…).
I have finally arrived at the conference! My first impression is one of inspiration. While many in the U.S. seem incredulous that climate change exists, here and now I am surrounded by people on the cutting edge of adaptation and mitigation. There are exhibits from nonprofits, countries, and universities from all over the world not to mention side events to boot. I’ve spent most of my first morning here wandering around the beautiful facility, getting my bearings, picking up more reading material than I will ever get to, and generally being in awe of the human diversity surrounding me. Perhaps more awe inspiring is that this diversity is united by one global phenomenon, climate change.
I think it is time for me to back up a little bit and describe for a moment what these negotiations are and why I’m here. So first, let’s dive into a little history lesson.
- 1896 Svante Arrhenius describes the greenhouse effect correlating increases in global temperature to increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide
- 1980s Some scientists begin reaching out to the public to warn that carbon emissions risked turning mathematical models of global temperature increase into a reality
- 1990 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) publishes its first report
- 1995 the first COP takes place in Berlin
- 1997 the Kyoto Protocol becomes the negotiating group’s binding agreement
- 2001 U.S. signs Kyoto
- 2005 Kyoto Protocol goes into force, U.S. fails to ratify it
- 2009 Copenhagen COP15 fails to develop Kyoto’s successor, instead develops an unofficial, non-binding agreement signed by some member countries (the Copenhagen Accord).
- 2010 Cancun COP16 follows up with non-binding, Cancun Agreements
- 2011 Durban COP17
Among the news media, there is an expectation that developing a successor to Kyoto is long overdue, yet unlikely in Durban. Most suggest that a binding overhaul is unlikely given the dismal global economic climate and the hesitancy of the U.S. and China to limit their own carbon emissions. Instead of producing a binding agreement, Obama administration has repeatedly affirmed its hope that the conference in Durban will operationalize the Copenhagen Accord and Cancun Agreements (which are primarily voluntary). 
So now for my role. Last spring, I received funding through the Environmental Studies program at the University of Montana to attend the conference as an observer and report my findings back to campus. The only thing that stood between me and going was this little thing called “accreditation.” (This basically means that my name needed to be on a list to get in the door). Getting on that list proved to be more than a headache, but finally came through a little over two weeks ago. My role here at the conference is as a UN observer through UNICEF. In return for accreditation, I will write a report on empowering climate change communication strategies to be used in their outreach materials.
As I mentioned earlier, my other main goal will be to reach out to as many people as I possibly can back in the U.S. Reveling in my first impressions here, it is so perplexing that the U.S. is dragging its feet behind the rest of the world when it comes to accepting what is real; that climate changes, it always has changed, it always will change, but right now it is changing faster than it ever has before due to human actions. More than anyone else, the U.S. has the capacity and the responsibility to do something about it. All the U.S. needs is the will and the public outcry to drive it.