Monday, December 14, 2009–Erin Schutte

The observers inside the Bella Center today are thankful they set their alarm clocks. Registration for COP15 got bogged down nearly immediately after the doors opened this morning at 8 AM, causing thousands of environmentalists to wait for hours outside the venue in the bitter Danish winter. I arrived at the center with my fellow Yale undergraduates this morning at 7:30 AM, and was one of the first groups to enter this morning. I was quickly ushered through security, got my photo taken, and in my business suit with my new badge around my neck, I entered one of the most hectic and overwhelming scenarios I could have imagined.

People scurried about and rushed to events in all directions. With a packet of daily events as my roadmap, I joined the crowded masses of people and ended up at a Side Event. These 90 minute events are catered to those with observer status and led by specialists in particular fields of climate change or delegates from nations with a leadership role in negotiations. The first Side Event I sat in on was the United Nation’s take on “Adaptation to Climate Change”, where they called for national planning, technical assistance, and broad-based partnership with developing countries as key parts to solving climate change. Another event I attended was a question and comment session about agriculture and forestry being climate solutions beyond Copenhagen, but coming from an agricultural background myself, I noticed the extreme disconnect between what specialists saw as ideal solutions and the ways they would gain support for these ideas among the farmers and foresters who have been using the environment for decades as their means of livelihood. I also attended Morocco’s Side Event detailing its national climate plan, whereby focusing on desertification abatement and renewable energy, dedicated itself to being a leader in Africa’s involvement to reverse climate change. Al Gore led a Side Event today entitled “Melting Snow and Ice: A Call for Action” and I was in the midst of the press madness awaiting his exit outside the over-packed room.

The most outstanding aspect of this conference is the abundance of prominent world leaders. Every minute there is uproar of voices, flashes of cameras, and an entourage of delegates, mostly likely a president or minister heading the way through the main hall of the center. I ate my lunch next to the technology minster of Chile, he pointed out to me the leader of one of these entourages—the extremely tall leader from the tiny island of Tuvalu who caused such a ruckus in negotiations last week that the conference was actually halted momentarily.

US Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu led a talk at COP15 this afternoon about the way US is leading the way in energy efficiency and renewables. In hopes of entering the room to hear him speak, I went to the specific area an hour in advance and watched as hundreds of observers lined up behind me with the same goal of seeing some ground-breaking action. But by the time the meeting was to start, everyone in the line was notified that all the seats in the room had been taken up by heads of states and a select few members of the press. Disappointed, we watched Chu’s speech outside the room on big screens and listened to his (surprisingly) specific action goals for paving the way for a new American energy future while taking the steps now to prevent the worst consequences of climate change.

Overall, it has taken me this first day to get oriented with the center, get my bearings straight, and my action plan in focus. I made some great connections with a director of an NGO in Nigeria, and an Australian business man who travels the world setting up energy usage strategies for entire nations. In the coming days, I hope to continue to take it all in, while hopefully engaging in some major activities. As negotiation days seem to be winding down at the conference, debates are heating up in the plenary, where the heads of states deliberate and converse about the details of an agreement. This conference is so huge that it all is a bit overwhelming for me, as well as the vast majority of others. But being here where all the action is taking place has proven to me the commitment of so many people working to make a plan to control climate change not only from a scientific perspective but a political and economical one as well, and it gives me hope that these world leaders are doing everything they can to offer us a promising future for our world.

Erin Schutte is a Senior Editorial Associate for Global21 and a Sophomore at Yale University majoring in Political Science and Modern Middle East Studies.

Members of the Yale Delegation at the Bella Center in Copenhagen.