Nick is one of twenty-three Australian Youth Delegates to Copenhagen Climate Negotiations (5-18 Dec, 2009).
This is his collection of stories, videos, photos and links that aim to be informative, funny, relevant and recent.
Copenhagen is over and this blog has only a few more stories in it at a stretch. This first one is my reflections on how I participated in the Copenhagen experience.
Personal financial reflections. The reason I could travel half way around the world for a climate conference was because I was supported financially. Money is a major limiting factor for young people participating in the United Nations. In fact, there was only one young person from Bangladesh at the Conference and this really signifies how unrepresentative money can make the playing field.
Macquarie University has given me a $1,500 scholarship which paid for accommodation ($850) and some of the flight over ($2,200). Other sponsors were Kuring-gai Council ($250) and Dr. Brendan Nelson ($150). Otherwise, the money that I spent while working in Copenhagen came from my own pocket. As far as I can gather, it amounted to $1,500.
When I tell people about Copenhagen and being an Australian Youth Delegate, there is an assumption that I was paid to go over. If the youth delegates from Australia counted the number of hours worked the cost of volunteering would certainly add up. However, this is a luxury we cannot afford. The AYCC is a non-profit volunteer organisation that is desperately short of money. If you want to go to the website here, it is easy enough to donate. Your money will be spent wisely for a safe climate.
I have recently been made aware of the millions of dollars that go into corporate lobbying on the part of the businesses that will be effected when the Australian government responds to climate change. Six figure salaries for hundreds of staff are the opposition to a bunch of young volunteers who pay their own way. Sometimes the truth is all you need. Not in this case.
What we have achieved in Copenhagen can also not be assessed in figures. When people think of Archbishop Desmond Tutu calling on the negotiators to “seal the fair, ambitious and binding deal” there is no way of measuring the volunteer hours that went into organising the event for him to speak. The media work done by AYCC with videos, radio, television, newspaper and online articles and interviews has shaped opinion in our own country, an outcome impossible to assess financially.
As we count our dollars and follow GDP with expectant eyes, it is important to remember how little these numbers mean. If money cannot provide a safe climate and clean skies in our backyard, then what is it good for?
Cheers,
N.
