It feels as though we are down to the wire in Copenhagen. Frustration is high over the glacial pace of negotiations. As well, with tens of thousands of people representing non-governmental organizations kept out of the Bella Centre, where negotiations are going on, this city feels full of unspent energy searching for a place to burst. I think this will intensify as the week goes on and as access to the Bella Centre is cut down even further. And as the talks continue to look like they're faltering.
But it's fascinating to be here. There is the distinct sense that two separate events are happening. First and most obvious are the talks. It's the fifteenth yearly set since the Kyoto Protocol was framed and it's clear that what happens here politically will set the stage for life and death on the planet. I wish that were an overstatement.
Second is the sense that this is the seminal moment of our generation. Something is happening here that goes well beyond the political or scientific arena. We are witnessing the passionate engagement of the citizenry in the future of life on the planet. That makes itself clear in the touchingly careful organization the nation of Denmark has taken in the preparations for the event: the city squares, metro stations, walls and public spaces full of climate-based art. It's clear in the range of citizens from around the world who are here, vaulting well past the norm even for a large UN event. There are the carefully scruffy anarchists and anti-nuclear types, the dapper, silk-scarved fellows with shiny shoes from government offices, the impossibly young students who seem to have endless energy, the elegant suit-clad men wearing toques and scarves and speaking wonderful African French as they shiver in Copenhagen's long outdoor lineups.
The participants who really gave me a glimpse of what's going on, though, were the elderly couple who were in line as I waited on Saturday to get my accreditation through the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), where I am an associate. He had one of those Northern European beards without a mustache, white and trimmed, sticking straight out from the end of his chin. She wore wire glasses and her hair was gray. Both were dressed in black and looked frail. Throughout the hour-long wait, outside the Bella Centre and then inside the makeshift security tent complete with airport scanners, they held hands. The look on their faces was that of excitement and hope. I had the sense that they had followed this issue for many years and were here to bear witness to its joyful, successful conclusion. They are not the only ones.
This issue has gone well beyond a political process. It has gone far past just being a scientific issue. During these two weeks in Copenhagen, the CO2 problem - of the atmosphere and to some degree the ocean - has become the central issue of our species. What remains to be seen is whether we attempt to solve it as a whole species, or whether we maintain a tribal stance, pitting rich against poor, old emitters versus new, vulnerable against the strong. That will never work, in my view. This problem is so big it needs us all to be pulling in the same direction.
Can the political leaders who are here stamp down on their own pride and fear and give birth to real hope? Stay tuned.
Alanna
Copenhagen
