End of COP15 recap; a personal account. And prelude to how I was detained.

As heads of state, prime ministers and presidents filed into Copenhagen, the second week of the climate change conference took on a new face, for the worse. The security scene, once accommodating and friendly, took on a new aggressive restricted role. Tensions mounted as the cops prepared for climate justice actions such as Wednesday’s Reclaim Power, The People’s Assembly. Furthermore, the constant reductions in Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) pass allowances into the Bella Center became a frustration for the overbooked 22,000+ delegates admitted. Entry into the conference was restricted to 1000 passes on Wednesday to 300 on Thursday and finally a mere 90 on Friday. It was an outrage. Restricted public participation created a clash. Plenary sessions became impossible to get into. Closed door negotiations became the norm. NGO’s who had traveled far and wide were livid. Kicking out civil society from the UNFCCC process still remains the hotly contested criticism of the conference.

The SSC delegation, awarded only 5 passes early on in the week between the 18 of us by the Sierra Club, was forced to take a new direction on how to be most strategic and effective at COP15. While others worked out of Tck Tck Tck’s Fresh Air Center, I went down to climate ground zero. This is my story. As someone who got involved in climate activism through grassroots organizations like Mountain Justice, getting back on the ground felt like home. It was empowering. Realizing that entry into the Bella Center as a NGO delegate is a privilege that many were not equally offered, it was grounding to finally get involved in activities outside the Bella Center. For the thousands of activists that came to Copenhagen to organize demonstrations, Klima Forum and actions for the voice of the people; the rallies, marches and protests played a crucial, often times under looked aspect of building the oh-so-very-important grassroots movement. For if you didn’t have the angry citizens demanding action from the government, politicians would go about solving the climate crisis like “business as usual”. In a daily Sierra Club debrief, US Delegate Trigg Talley, the State Dept. official responsible for organizing the US Delegation at COP15, revealed that the grassroots pressure and public support for climate change action is in fact the missing piece to the puzzle. He even admitted the domestic grassroots energy, or mobilizing the American public to give a damn about climate change is exactly what is needed for Congress to enact climate-energy legislation. In essence, the “radical” progressives are needed to demand change. They are needed because you need all types of people in a movement. They are simply the ones to start the call for a clean energy revolution when it seems silly. They are sowing the seeds for change. The change that will come from the bottom-up and evolve into climate policies and law.

At the conclusion of the conference, despite the disappointment and shame felt by US NGO’s because of Obama’s lackluster speech, a number of good things are evolving. There still is hope we can all believe in. The weak three page “Copenhagen Accord” is not an end all. While nothing significant came from international agreement on CO2 emission reductions with politics, I believe a powerful wave of citizen action has grown.  In my personal opinion, one of the best things to happen in Copenhagen was the Saturday Global Day of Action, where an estimated 100,000 people participated in the People’s Climate March to the Bella Center.

Like the Hopenhagen campaign calls for, I am a true believer of when people lead, leaders follow. The march took this to heart. The international array of ordinary citizens demanding system change, not climate change left a powerful message as it transcended far and wide on every news channel. Even more amazing, the march wasn’t only a young person activist event, left and right I saw baby strollers and entire families. What does this mean? Climate change is a people’s issue. It is in the here and now. It’s not just something to tackle so that we don’t compromise the future of our kids, or future generations. For the vulnerable low-lying islands states it is a matter of survival today. A 2 degree rise in temperature is unacceptable. As a young person, one of the 500 that represented US Youth during COP15, we know what we’re up against and we’re up for the challenge. America is a remarkable country. I am optimistic about the future and especially the spring as climate-energy legislation takes center stage in U.S. politics.  The fate of humanity rests on the shoulders of U.S. Congressmen. The world knows this, and the US Senate must lead. Now.