December 10th Part 1

Hi everyone,

I think the word 'Launch' best describes Thursday, Dec. 10th. It was the official launch day in terms of participating in events here in Copenhagen. I should mention that the previous night about not being able to access the Bella Center left me a little puzzled because I was turned around by security guards not registration. I recalled and checked an email from a student serving as a delegate for SustianUS (U.S Youth for Sustainable Development), who had invited me to engage in YOUNGO, the UNFCCC Youth Constituency, 8 AM daily meetings in the Bella Center. I decided to give it another try. I woke up at 6:00 AM excited that I might be able to get in to the UN conference. As the clock ticked to 8:00 AM, I had almost arrived at the Bella Center. During this time, I met a women delegate from Alabama USA who asked if I had my passport and letter of official accreditation. I actually had left them back at host house. Simply, I rushed back and came back (16 KM round trip) within in an hour with what I thought to be the needed credentials to get in. It turned out that the letter I had was not sufficient and because the organization was not pre-registered in July of 2009, they had to ask me to leave. I can say this. The experience of walking in line with several hundred participants of the UN through security and registration made me feel for a second like an official representative. It is the closest I have ever been to entering the UN conference. :) Even though I was not recognized as official by the UN standards, that didn't prevent me from engaging in other events like the KlimaForum09 and spread the words about the Lijiang Green Education Center (GEC).

I have four youtube videos I recommend you take a look, which all take place in the Bella Center. Three of them are from the U.S youth that represent a variety of organizations. The first is from a reporter. She is speaking Danish so I suggest to mute it. However the video gives a good insider look at the UN conference. The second video a delegate from SustainUS doing a flash dance with the international youth group at the conference lobby. The third is the US youth group who crashed climate denier on a live webcast. The forth is a very inspiring video. It is Moey Newbold. She spoke on behalf of the youth at an official UN session.

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http://cascadeclimate.org/cop15/index.php/2009/12/10/moey-speaks-to-the-plenary/

If you want to get more information about what the U.S youth are doing at COP15 or wish to write them questions, I have two blogs that I suggest you take a quick look at.

http://cascadeclimate.org/cop15/

http://jeremycop15.wordpress.com/

My next adventure was to locate the KlimaForum09, which I had absolutely no idea where it was. It was frankly one of the more complicated sites to find since I had to change to entirely different train station. However the Danish are very welcoming to answer questions and help. It became apparent that the cite I was looking for was adjacent to the Central Station. The primary reason I was seeking to attend this event was Dr. Jonathan Harrington had notified me the prior night his plans to attend the KlimaForum09 "Climate Changes in Tibet: Consequences for Tibet and Asia" at 10:00 AM and the "The Tour with the Federation of Non-Profit Housing Assocations in Denmark." The Tibetan talk was filled to over capacity when I arrived. As I was trying to find another talk to attend, I ran into Yujin Lee, the Director of Climate and Energy for the Non-Government Organization, GreenKorea. We both went to the "International Cooperation for Renewable Energy - in Europe and in the South." As we looked through up coming talks, she pointed out to me the name Mathis Wackernagel. She said that she had translated his book 'Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth' published in 1998 into the Korean language. It was just astonishing to me who I was meeting simply by coincidence.

We were there for the last half of the two-hour session, which was open for panel questions. Many of the discussions were focused on the ethical implications with the massive project of installing solar farms in north Africa and having the excess transported to Europe. To be honest, this was a lecture I was not able to follow to closely because I didn't have a lot of context for which the questions were based.

After the session, I was met by a media reporter, Marian Bichler. She gave me her blog side. I recommend you visit this youtube link that she had done on why people have come to the KlimaForum (Youtube video)

In the early afternoon, I signed up and joined Dr. Harrington on "The Tour of Federation of Non-Profit Housing Assocations in Denmark." We rode a bus to see the projects completed and underway for a non-profit by the name of WITRAZ, which has taken many initiatives in renovating housing to become leading in energy efficiency such as new windows, instillation, and appliances and architecture design. Just take a look below. Notice the shape of the buildings. They are in built around a square grass/tree field (an open space like a park). One of the goals for this was to allow for natural light to reach each room during a day.

One thing that should be noted is that buildings 4 stories and lower do not come with an elevator, which is the majority of them. In addition, you may find interesting that the renters are allowed to purchase a porch at any time point of their rent that they want. The tour guide mentioned that most people live in these apartments for most of their lives, very few move out in the short-term. And if they decide to leave before the loan payment is complete, the next renter has to inherit the costs. In America, many families move out of a house in 5 or 10 years. I don't think I would ever find any America accepting to these terms.