It’s Getting Hot In Here

This is not the first blog of China Youth COP15 team but it is the first one that we are sending to ItsGettingHotInHere to share with you. We are very excited to share with you a major event of ours today at the Bella Centre and we hope you will like it.

Before that, as the person in charge of blogging for our team (Hello everyone, my name is Xixi), I would like to do a brief introduction of our team, China Youth COP15. We are the first ever Chinese youth-led team to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen(COP15) from Dec 7 -18. We have 42 team members coming from diverse backgrounds (including students studying environmental science, policy, engineering etc in universities in China, US and UK, and young professionals aspiring to become China’s future enterpreneurs, chief executives, social pioneers and business leaders.) We want to be the bridge between the Chinese youths and COP15, to bring the voice of youth in China to Copenhagen and also bring the messages in Copenhagen back to China.

Today we had a major campaigning event in the Bella Centre, the traditional Chinese Medicine diagnoses on climate change. Our inspiration came from the philosophy behind Chinese medicine – the diagnosis of a whole body as a system, so that if there is a syptom arisen from one particular area, there must be underlying causes and problems of the whole system which have fundamentally caused it. We want to view the whole world as one system, and work together to combat climate change. If only one nation goes forward, it cannot achieve much without cooperation from others.

Also that Chinese medicine is a long-term cure that it promotes the enhancement of overall wellness rather than a quick fix. We have to admit that a quick fix will not work for climate change mitigation and we have to rehabilitate the Earth from within – a fundamental systematic change is needed.

So today, we, the China Youth Delegation, have set up a stand outside Bella center decorated as the traditional Chinese Medicine doctor stand. Meanwhile, we have designed a two meters high thermometer. At every hour, the temperature was raised one degree
Celsius, and one living creature (we had our team members dressed up as pandas, monkeys, elephants etc. ) perish and be taken always by the devil.

In the picture below, our team member is holding a picture of a bird species that has almost reached extinction as a consequence of climate change.

We encouraged as many delegates to participate as possible and we have given out a diagnosed prescription which addresses issues and actions regarding climate change to each ‘patient’.

Each ‘patient’ has given their commitment to climate action and signed our book of commitment after having their diagnosis. We have designed the event so that the more people coming to participate, the slower the growth of the temperature on the thermometer.

We sincerely hope that this event can be thought-provoking for our participants. They might leave and lose the diagnosed prescription paper, but we hope that they can remember this unique event organised by the Chinese youths and take actions NOW before it is too late.