Day 3 and our optimism has not slipped one bit, if anything our motivation and passion towards achieving a deal as a delegation for the Young Liberals of Canada has grown. Today I chose to focus on developing nations and on finance for the transport industry in regards to climate change. Developing nations challenges and efforts dealing with climate change titled “ Indigenous peoples assessment of the current negations: issues and ways forward in Copenhagen”.
I found this particularly interesting because it really opened my eyes to the real and undeniable needs to ensure a complete incorporation of their concerns and solutions into the negotiations. The indigenousness people of the world are directly effected more adversely than us in the developed nations. A speaker from Kenya stated that recent prolonged droughts have destroyed the land completely to the point that it is no longer available for agricultural use. Climate change creates a situation where competition for resources from different communities where serious conflicts between peoples can and has arisen. One way of coping was through a mobility mechanism. This mechanism means that if people are giving the chance to move to more agricultural rich land then survival and prosperity can be achieved. The problem lies in the fact that country boarders and environmental safe zones have been created without the consult of the people of that land. “ Our voices have been completely ignored, the governments meet in closed doors while the people who are effected are left outside” said one of the panel members from Kenya. The Kenya panellist went on to say that “ This style of meeting will likely produce an abuse of the local people”.
Some other leaders from the Artic, Philippines and China have all stated along with many others that developing countries receive the appropriate finance to both mitigate and develop ways to combat climate change. The reason they feel so strongly about this issue is because they claim they have not received any benefit from climate change unlike the developed nations. In essence developed countries have created over ¾ of all climate change GHG's through industrial revolution and have had the benefits and luxuries of such. The developing countries however have stated that since they have not polluted nearly as much due to little or no industrial revolution and they should not have to be given the same financial obligation. I personally think this makes complete sense, it is our mess, lets clean it up ourselves all while ensuring we never pollute at the same levels while giving developing nations the chance to do the same.
I want to finish up on a quote that was giving by a pacific French colony islander native who said “ We don’t own the land, we belong to the land and with the land goes the identity of the people”. I found this powerful because he said the island he was born and raised on is at severe risk of complete consumption by the rising ocean levels and he is concerned that his people and their identity will be lost forever. When I heard such factual and truthful statements by people directly personally effected by climate change it really shows how crucial their voice is in this entire UN conference.
I found this particularly interesting because it really opened my eyes to the real and undeniable needs to ensure a complete incorporation of their concerns and solutions into the negotiations. The indigenousness people of the world are directly effected more adversely than us in the developed nations. A speaker from Kenya stated that recent prolonged droughts have destroyed the land completely to the point that it is no longer available for agricultural use. Climate change creates a situation where competition for resources from different communities where serious conflicts between peoples can and has arisen. One way of coping was through a mobility mechanism. This mechanism means that if people are giving the chance to move to more agricultural rich land then survival and prosperity can be achieved. The problem lies in the fact that country boarders and environmental safe zones have been created without the consult of the people of that land. “ Our voices have been completely ignored, the governments meet in closed doors while the people who are effected are left outside” said one of the panel members from Kenya. The Kenya panellist went on to say that “ This style of meeting will likely produce an abuse of the local people”.
Some other leaders from the Artic, Philippines and China have all stated along with many others that developing countries receive the appropriate finance to both mitigate and develop ways to combat climate change. The reason they feel so strongly about this issue is because they claim they have not received any benefit from climate change unlike the developed nations. In essence developed countries have created over ¾ of all climate change GHG's through industrial revolution and have had the benefits and luxuries of such. The developing countries however have stated that since they have not polluted nearly as much due to little or no industrial revolution and they should not have to be given the same financial obligation. I personally think this makes complete sense, it is our mess, lets clean it up ourselves all while ensuring we never pollute at the same levels while giving developing nations the chance to do the same.
I want to finish up on a quote that was giving by a pacific French colony islander native who said “ We don’t own the land, we belong to the land and with the land goes the identity of the people”. I found this powerful because he said the island he was born and raised on is at severe risk of complete consumption by the rising ocean levels and he is concerned that his people and their identity will be lost forever. When I heard such factual and truthful statements by people directly personally effected by climate change it really shows how crucial their voice is in this entire UN conference.
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