Time is running out, youth organize in Nairobi

With only 4 days for the closing of the UNFCCC negotiations, the North America youth delegation has doubled efforts to press for outcomes from this meeting that will safeguard help us combat climate change. Over the next 24 hrs we will be organizing a press conference, a meeting with the minister of environment of the United Kingdom, while meetings with the European Union, United States, Japan, Canada, and Uganda are also on the agenda for today. Als,o We will be organizing demonstrations, and lobbying delegates from the G77 and China, as well as collaborating with the international network of organizations members of the Climate Action Network. The UN complex looks like a beehive right now. Ministers are arriving in the next 24hrs to close the deals negotiated over the past few days. Kofi Annan, Sir Nicholas Stern, and other high level commissionaires are expected to join the High Level Plenary tomorrow, and youth are organizing demonstrations to stress the urgency of this issue to the 6000 people gathered in Nairobi. Youth are currently writing their statement to be delivered on Friday, and will continue to do everything they can to make the ministers realize they it is our future they are negotiating.

Busy days ahead of us… back to work

About Juan

Juan Hoffmaister, originally from Costa Rica, is active young leader working to bring the environmental and development agenda together. He formerly served as youth advisor to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and has represented youth perspectives on environmental negotiations worldwide. His work has been featured by NPR and other media outlets, and has recently completed a Watson Fellowship meeting comity leaders from across 4 continents responding to climate-induced disasters and water stress around the world through community-based adaptation. He has been an active advocate in UN negotiations since 2005, and he believes that the industrialized nations have the responsibility of helping the poor and vulnerable cope with the impacts of our changing climates, and he is currently working with youth from around the world in creating a new international agreement to keep the planet cool. On his spare time, he enjoys diving, reading, and drinking coffee. More @ ChangingClimates.info

1 Response to “Time is running out, youth organize in Nairobi”

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1 Josh Arnold Nov 14th, 2006 at 8:03 am

The creative expression looks awesome! Keep the pressure on. It sounds like these next few days are crucial. I can almost feel the intensity from the UN “beehive” over here in NH. Good luck with the meetings today and days to come. We are all sending you lots of support from this end and are hugely grateful for your hard work. Let those ministers know that, actually, a healthy planet for our future is not negotiable.

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