It’s 1 AM and I’m sitting here in a mostly abandoned conference center on the outskirts of Copenhagen at the UN Climate Talks with May Boeve of 350.org and a group of about 30 youth who have been staging a sit-in in the main hall of the conference. It’s been a tough and frustrating day at times. After a day of speeches by heads of state — many of them in favor of 350 ppm — it still feels like we’re not getting much closer to a real deal. According to the carbon simulator over at Climate Interactive, when you add up all the proposals on the table, we’re still shooting for around 770 ppm.
That’s a tough number to face, both for the planet and personally. I’ve been pouring my heart and soul into this campaign for last two years. And it’s been completely life-changing. Every time I look at the pictures in our Flickr set, or up on the slideshow here on the homepage, I get an incredible sense of hope. "Anything is possible," seems to be the message of those pictures. I’m thinking particularly of that one of the lone girl in Iraq, standing by herself at the Ishtar Gate in Babylon. She walked through security check point after security check point to take that photo, even after her friends went home because they were (rightfully) to afraid to continue.
Her bravery gives me hope. And helps me keep fighting, despite the odds.
So here’s a quick update on where we’re at: May and I have spent the day meeting with as many countries as we can to strengthen support for the 350 target. Over 100 countries now support the target, which is an incredible testament to the hard work that you all did on October 24, last weekend, and over the course of this entire year. We’ve spent the day trying to meet with them all to let them know that we’ve got their back, provide them with any updates, listen to how we can help, and perhaps hand off a 350-tie or two. I’ve also been busy talking with the media, working on getting them to help tell the story of this new "survival coalition" that’s emerging amongst vulnerable countries, trying to convince them to help amplify the voices of those who aren’t being heard. And this evening, we’ve been working with a great team of youth who were hosting the sit-in here at the center to demand a great voice in the process.
It’s been a day of protests and anger, tension and frustration. At the same time, it’s been a day of hope. Just moments ago, I talked with a delegate from the Association of Small Island States and she told me to pass on a message that I’ve heard time and time again from countries around the world: "Tell everyone: thank you. We couldn’t do this without you."
These countries aren’t just fighting for their survival, they’re fighting for all of ours. They need our support, they need our hope, and they need our willingness to stick it out to the end with the same sense of determination, focus, and yes, creativity and spirit, that defined this effort from the very start.
We’re keeping up the fight.