It's Getting Hot In Here

Did you ever wonder where It’s Getting Hot In Here came from?  I mean beyond the Nelly song, which is now a distant relic of early-2000s pop culture.

Here’s that story.

It’s Getting Hot In Here, the blog, was founded at the United Nations climate negotiations in Montreal in 2005: COP11/MOP1.  Just that year Russia ratified the Kyoto Protocol, meeting the requirement that countries producing at least 55% of global emissions signed on for Kyoto to take effect.  Montreal was the first meeting of Kyoto Protocol signatories. It was also the foundation of the International Conference of Youth, the body that brings youth from around the world together to develop a common platform, strategy and story.

The atmosphere in Montreal was both hopeful and frustrated.  The Kyoto Protocol had finally come into effect, the first ever international treaty on climate.  This was a major step forward.  And yet, the United States and Australia, two of the world’s largest emitters, had refused.  While delegates met to discuss making the Kyoto Protocol stronger and how to improve implementation, parallel negotiations began to discuss a new framework to replace Kyoto after 2012.  It was in this context that I found myself thrust into the international climate movement.

Continue reading ‘Climate Generation: From Humble Beginnings To A Global Movement’

The title says it all – we’ve gone global. And it’s not just because of Saturday.

Photo courtesy of 350.org (and inspiring people in London, Sydney, and Copenhagen)

I won’t even try to sum up the awesomeness that was the October 24th International Day of Climate Action. Instead, I’m thinking about how this fits into the even bigger awesomeness that is the international youth climate movement:

International Day of Climate Action – Yesterday was the largest day of distributed political activism ever. It was temporarily the top news story globally. While people of all ages can celebrate in making this day happen, youth played a huge role in creating and participating in many of the actions, in spreading the popularity of the day of action, and working behind the scenes (or more likely in the middle of them) as members of the 350.org staff. Continue reading ‘We’re Building a Global Movement’

And the Conference of the Parties begins…..

Last year, in Bali Indonesia, the nations of the world agreed to reach an agreement by 2009 to tackle climate change. By December 15th 2009, in Copenhagen Denmark, governments are expected to reach an agreement that  will holistically tackle not only the issues of emissions, but also the impacts to those most vulnerable. This coming Monday, in Poznan, Poland, the UN will meet again to advance the Bali Action Plan.

The Bali roadmap, which has become more like a treasure-hunt, brings many daunting challenges to Poznan. From tackling issues of deforestation in tropical forest, to insurance schemes to help countries recover from extreme climate change-related losses, Poznan is happening in the midst of global financial crisis that many countries are already using as a scape-goat for dumping climate goals and continuing the decades of inaction and unsustainable economic policies. The stakes are high, yet ideas are not flowing. The developed countries’ proposals on technology transfer and   finance for mitigation and adaptation are a carbon copy of the failed regulation mechanisms of modern history, yet somehow they are asking developing nations to take bold steps in order to achieve an agreement.

For something meaningful to come out of the agreement next year, Poznan must set a new path.

Rather that trying fixing our future on new-yet-dirty of the same fuels that have gotten us in trouble, we need a vision of a world where well-being is not coupled with greenhouse gases. There will be over 500 young people in Poznan, and they have been organizing for months. Over this weekend they will come together at Conference of Youth to finish their strategy, and over the next two weeks youth from across the planet will be contributing to itsgettinghotinhere.org, giving their perspective on the process and their suggestions for fixing the planet we will inherit. You can also contribute with your message by sharing your views with COP14 youth messaging team

February 16th, 2005 saw the Kyoto Protocol go into effect, with its ratification by Russia. When the United States rejected the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, some feared that international climate actions would fail, but 36 countries are now working to reduce emissions under Kyoto (the most well known requirement of which is 5% reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2012).

December, 2005 (almost two years ago) saw the launch of It’s Getting Hot In Here at the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations in Montreal, Canada. Although this was the 11th Conference of Parties meeting to discuss international action to address climate change, it was the first Meeting of Parties, where the countries that ratified the Kyoto Protocol gathered to discuss how to meet its requirements and to begin looking at what happens after 2012.

December 3, 2005 saw the world’s first International Day of Climate Action. Scheduled to coincide with the Montreal negotiations, tens of thousands of people around the world took action to call for strong implementation of reduction mechanisms. As a part of the 30,000 person march to the Palais de Congres where the negotiations were taking place, I was stunned by the number of people involved. That conference was my first major experience with the climate movement, and then and there I became devoted to climate activism. Continue reading ‘Two Year Anniversary: From Montreal to Bali’

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This video of a march in Madison, Wisconsin on March 4th got to me. It reminded me of the 20,000 strong in Montreal who marched for a strong Kyoto and made me think of the thousands more who will march in Washington, DC later this year to save the climate and end the war. Next stop: Northampton, Massachusetts starting tomorrow.

Check the lyrics from “Clean It”… Continue reading ‘On the march!’

Two of our very own colleagues were recognized by the World Conservation Union for their perservering work on climate change today, International Women’s Day.

Rosa Kouri, National Director of the Sierra Youth Coalition and Virginie Lavallée-Picard, Organizer with SustainUS are among the prestigious slew of women recognized today. The recognition is extended to 23 women around the world who are working on the pressing issue of climate change.

Continue reading ‘International Women making International Change’

Stéphane Dion has just been elected the new Federal Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. (Equal to leader of “Democrats” in the U.S.)

Dion was the previous Minister of the Environment for Canada before the Conservative government came into power in February. Dion was also the previous President of the United Nations (U.N.) Conference of the Parties and Meeting of the Parties (COP/MOP) on climate change. He lead Canada and influenced many countries in the world to make last year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference in Montreal, Canada, an INCREDIBLE success.

In his victory speech tonight he noted that the number one goal in Canada right now should be Continue reading ‘…And then there was hope.’

Many of us that were in Montreal last year for the United Nations Climate Change Conference will remember our strategizing, our actions, and our lobbying efforts.

We will also remember that we had a great deal of informal guidance throughout the 2 weeks, most of which came from Ms. Elizabeth May – a Canadian leader on environmental issues with a large place in her heart for engaging youth.

May is now the Leader of the Green Party of Canada, and is running to be a Member of Parliament in the London area in Ontario.

Continue reading ‘A Leader for the Climate’

It’s official: India has joined the Asia-Pacific Pact (APP) on climate change.

This might seem like a good thing, right? Not exactly. The APP basically amounts to a clean technology-sharing initiative between the U.S. and Australia (the two industrialized Kyoto laggards), along with China, Japan, South Korea and now, India. The APP has been criticized for its excessive focus on technology and market mechanisms at the expense of having any sort of binding targets or timetables. It has also been perceived as an attempt to undermine the broader multilateral Kyoto framework. And now India, my ancestral homeland, where the aspirations of a billion people greet every waking day, is heading down this misguided path.

Continue reading ‘India joins the Asia-Pacific Pact’