This is why we're all here-COP18

Four days after – COP18 By Ashley Perez Four days, it’s only been four days and I already feel like a whole other person. Let’s start off with Qatar, a truly fascinating city right in the middle of the desert, the cultures that you see at the Conference, the different languages that you hear the whole day, the many movements that you encounter, the immensity of this convention center... it sure is a lot to take in. To top it all off you have the youth groups, the meetings, the conferences, side events, plenaries, actions and every other thing that is happening simultaneously. It sure gets a little crazy! A typical day starts off with getting up going to a YOUNGO meeting, then you realize that there’s an action right after that, you head over there, give them your support, then a delegation meeting, awesome side event on Arabic countries stand on climate change and then right after that you're volunteering at the Sierra Club’s booth and then... well you get the idea. All of it is quite overwhelming so right in the middle of the Convention Center you just sit down by the spider (weird, random, huge spider sculpture right in the middle of the conference center with eggs in her belly) and you realize the magic of it all. Every single person around you is from a totally different part of the world; that you've probably never even thought about. People whose realities are completely different from yours. So you let it all sink in and it is truly fascinating picturing these people’s lives. As you reach out to them, you begin talking to a few: New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan, Argentina, Maldives, Colombia, Algeria, Liberia, China, Bangladesh, etc. and realize that the believes, the passion, the desire for a better quality of life for the present and future of all the organisms in this world are exactly the same. That’s when it hits you, this is why we're all here, to let our decision makers know that we support this conference and that we won't, we can't give up on something so crucial as the health of our planet.

 

Actions on the Young and Future Generations Day at COP18