And so it nearly begins...

Nick and myself registered for COP17 today and boy oh boy are we in for a treat. There are two massive exhibition halls- the AFRICA section where all the African countries have their stalls I assume is amazing. They have split the section into the different ecosystems found in Africa. For example, there is a Rainforest area, Desert area (i think) and other ecosystems- will check properly tomorrow when we are actually allowed in.

Today at COY was great. Hearing Kumi Naidoo speak was wonderful- he is the executive director of GreenPeace international so it was amazing hearing such an inspirational man speak. The video who Bill McKibben (founder of 350.org) recorded for us was great. What an amazing man- he has spent more days in jail this year then in his own bed because he has been campaigning for environmental issues. Go Bill- you are my hero. I also went to a wonderful, informative workshop on the Green Climate Fund which am so glad I did. I feel like I knew of the Green Climate Fund but it was great hearing all the details about it and hearing people talk about it who have been studying it since inception. I very long story short- the Green Climate Fund was started to raise funding ($100 billion) which will be used in adaptation and mitigation measures for developing countries. It is one attempt at climate justice but unfort it is still in draft form because at the last Tranfer Committee meeting in October the USA and Saudi Arabia would not sign off on the report and it therefore won't be finalized this COP, as was hoped :( Dam! is a pity considering the other 38 countries agreed on the report and because of 2 countries yet another attempt to combat climate change and empower vulnerable countries won't happen :(

COY is over but there is so much to come. Between COP and the civil proceedings (C17) I think the next 2 weeks are going to be JAM PACKED. Well done to all the COY people who partied til 3am and still made it today...very impressive!

Who speaks and who listens? Experiences from the first day of COY7 in Durban

COY7 stands for “Conference of Youth”, which happens as a gathering of youth organisations before the start of COP in order to give different youth organisations a chance to network and learn from each other, as well as about the COP process.

So, appropriately, our COP17 experience begins here: with the youth. And youth there were – 300 or so, packed into a lecture theatre at UKZN’s Howard College, bustling and waiting for the day to begin. Our team – about 6 of us – were feeling equally inspired after helping with registration and meeting a ridiculous number of delegates from around the world.

Diversity seems key – we learn from each other, share experiences and difference. But at the same time, unity forms an important underlying theme of the “global international youth climate movement”. It’s necessary for lobbying governments, for advocating change and forming a coherent force. But whose unity?

Conference of Youth plenery session, UKZN Durban

Treating the conference as an anthropological exercise raises many interesting questions about what I’d like to call (albeit rather snobbishly) the “politics of articulation”, or, the way in which stuff gets said, who says it, and who listens to it.

Impressingly there are lots of COY delegates from Africa – about half the delegation – with representatives from South Africa, Kenya, Malawi and many other countries. I was proud at this fact and felt a sort of entitled solidarity with the “African movement”, if it can be reified as such. Even though the people running COY sessions were mostly Austrailian or international, at least a lot of the delegates were local, I thought to myself.

But what does locality mean in the face of a global movement? Who speaks, and who gets listened to? In a lot of senses, “Africa” (the continent is sadly still not being diversified, even by myself) is being represented in global talks and movements around the world, just as it is at COY. But does this mean that “African” voice gets listened to in the same way in which other organisations from the global north get listened to?

I think that in a lot of ways, our ways of knowing and expression are listened to but not fully acknowledged or comprehended at these kind of gatherings. There are lots of African voices speaking out, but there is something very uncomfortable about the way in which we are ‘facilitated’ to speak by others, and the way in which they in turn listen to what we have to say.

Of course, the “global north”, in their experience and monetary advantage, do have a lot to teach us and “build capacity”, especially at the kind of political gatherings such as COP which require a specific kind of articulation to be taken even remotely seriously. And that’s what we need.

So perhaps, the “politics of articulation” debate is one to engage with at a deeper level, and not just the immediate proceedings over the next few days. In the long run, we need to be aiming to get African voice actually listened to, and not just heard, and we may need to put that on pause for the upcoming COP. But I’ll certainly be looking at how these ideas play out in the official delegation and civil society meetings next week.