It’s that time of year. Government delegations have gathered from around the world for the next round of United Nations climate negotiations. In fact, it’s their 17th such conference — COP17.<\/p>\n
And well, the picture in front of us here isn’t all that pretty. We all remember the massive failure to reach a fair, ambitious, and binding treaty in Copenhagen in 2009. And now some wealthy countries are talking about delaying any sort of new treaty for another 4 to 9 years. 4 to 9 years!<\/p>\n
Our allies at AOSIS (the alliance of small island states) described such talk as “reckless and irresponsible.<\/a>” That’s putting it lightly.<\/p>\n And though some countries are trying to downplay expectations for the negotiations, in no way are we giving up on what science says in truly necessary to ensure the survival of all countries and peoples. We can’t wish away the physics and chemistry that tell us we have to act urgently to get back below 350 ppm CO2 in the atmosphere. So that’s what we’ll be fighting for here in Durban.<\/p>\n To introduce a bit more about our work during these weeks of the UN meeting and to invite your help to get the message out Winnie Asiti<\/a>, a 350 organizer from Kenya who journeyed overland with over 160 African youth to be here, recorded this video…<\/p>\n