The Pacific movement in Copenhagen.

Submitted by NathanE on December 9, 2009 – 5:02 pmNo Comment

: Image by Australian Youth Climate Coalition via Flickr

Please read below for an update on the activities of the PSP team, written in the charmingly chatty prose of a sleepily excited Kirsty.

When I took on the role of PSP COP15 team coordinator, I felt so daunted and worried at attempting to connect a team from across Australia and the Pacific that could work strategically and effectively at COP15. But, after just one day at the conference, it is quickly becoming the most rewarding experience of my life. The PSP team is incredible, our objectives admirable and clear and we are achieving these goals more rapidly than we could have ever imagined.

The goals of PSP are just to raise the voice of the Pacific at the international negotiations, to reframe the climate debate internationally around survival and to build a youth climate movement in the Pacific. We believe these fit snugly with the AYCC objectives of achieving short-term political change, long-term cultural change and a vibrant, strong and just generation-wide movement that is working together to solve the climate crisis.

The last four days have been a whirlwind of eleven Pacific and fifteen Australian youth arriving in Copenhagen, the two-day Conference of Youth and the beginning of the Copenhagen Climate Conference. We were lucky, just the fact that we all arrived was a huge achievement for our team. It is the first time that youth from the Solomons Islands have been represented at international climate negotiations and it is, by far, the largest Pacific youth delegation present at a COP. Our team worked long, hard hours to make this happen and it has paid off – the Pacific delegates are diverse, passionate and ready to work together to raise the Pacific voice and build a Pacific youth climate network.

At COY, our Pacific delegates built relationships with Maldivian and Caribbean youth, to form a young AOSIS group and are currently working together to create a joint statement from the youth of Small Island States. These conversations, the realisation of a shared story, and the support for one another was incredibly moving. It was the first time I felt that the Australians in our team could finally play a supporting role, instead of a driving one, within Project Survival Pacific.

PSP hit COP15 in a storm of brightly coloured Pacific shirts and badges sporting ‘1.5 to Stay Alive’. These badges proved the perfect opening to a conversation and many great networks were formed, including Luana meeting the Vice-President of the IPCC. Our vibrant team caught the attention of many passers-by, before we knew it our team had been interviewed by American, Danish, Finnish, Fijian, Solomon Islands and Norwegian media! We started collaborating stories and messages to tell the media. It was so powerful to hear their messages first-hand “for you, these discussions are about changes in lifestyles, for us, they are about our lives”, “Islanders feel a connection to the land, when we are forced to move we lose our roots, young Islanders are losing their identity” and “Australia is our big brother, we need to work together to make sure we survive”.

Our first day ended with a bang: Christina Ora, our youngest delegate at 17 years of age, addressed the opening plenary as the YOUNGO representative. She adapted the speech herself to end with: ‘You hold our future in your hands, survival is not negotiable’. Her heartfelt words were received warmly by the Pacific government delegations and the Chair and with great excitement from our team!

For me, the most exciting part of today was seeing each individual within the team, Australian and Pacific, expanding their skills and networks, to become the inspiring and dedicated youth climate leaders our generation so needs. Before my eyes, a once impossible-seeming dream is being realised: youth, from the most affected regions of the globe, becoming part of our momentous youth climate movement.