BREAKING: Civil Society Demands Climate Justice at COP17

Story by Angela Wiley

Photos by Lauren Ressler and Holly Jones

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DEVELOPING: At 3:00pm on December 9, members of civil society entered the negotiating halls of COP17, led by party delegates from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Maldives, Senegal, and Egypt. The peaceful assembly demanded climate justice and leadership in a meeting with low ambition and uncertain outcome as negotiations enter their final day.

The human microphone ensured that everyone could hear messages dispersed throughout the crowd; and the assembly demanded climate justice from negotiators that are working through a complex and extremely slow paced negotiation process in Durban. Currently, the assembly is negotiating with UN security, who have separated the protest from traffic within the hall.

Wireless internet within the hall is very slow, perhaps owing to the volume of people accessing it. I have managed to snag an ethernet cable further from the action to offer some photos and update you! Follow HollyMJones on twitter for updates, and back here, of course! If you have time to take action, please follow the rapid response request below. With so much at stake, I hope you can find a few spare moments to help battle climate change:

Background: The US has made it very clear that they are not interested in developing a treaty to cut global emissions until 2020. This is unacceptable, the science is very clear and demands we PEAK our emissions around 2020 to avoid temperature increases over 1.5-2 degrees Celsius. Our generation's future is in the balance, and the United States is compromising the fragile trust that has returned to the UNFCCC process since the devastating outcomes of COP15 in Copenhagen. When they Delay We Pay.

It is time for us to take action. We want to let the State Department know that we will not sit idly by while they risk our future to please large corporations and backwards politicians.

Step 1: Call the State Department: You will call the switchboard and ask for the Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change, and leave a message with them. The switchboard is: 202-647-4000 

Script: Hi I'm _______ from ________ and I am calling to let your office know that as a young person in the United States my future depends on the action you are taking at the COP17 negotiations and we must move forward with a treaty to cut global carbon emissions this year. Postponing this action until 2020 is endangering my future. 

Step 2: Make Some Noise Online: please post comments on the state department's facebook page and twitter feeds. 

Sample Tweet: @StateDept Youth at #cop17 need you to commit to future generations and move forward on a treaty before 2020. #2late2wait #IYCM

They're also on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/usdos

Step 3: Get 5 friends to take action. I know this is hard, but this is our future we are talking about here and 5 minutes now will make a lifetime of difference. Real friends help friends save the planet. 

In Solidarity,

SSC COP17 Delegation

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