At long last, Australia has received the “Fossil of the Day”. The Climate Action Network’s (in)famous award for the worst-behaving nation at the COP15 negotiations was delivered today in an awards ceremony reminiscent of the Oscars. Sadly, the glitz and glamour was not to celebrate Australia being F.A.B., but to commiserate to our leaders’ attempts to strong-arm Pacific nations into accepting weak emissions targets.
From the Pacific to Copenhagen, donations from GetUp members helped send a group of five impressive young delegates from the Pacific Islands. Their messages have been vital at these talks. They have let the world know their homes are already under urgent threat from climate change.
And their words echoed from an address in the plenary session to interviews with press from around the world. Their stories have helped wake this conference up to the scale of the global challenge we all face together.
We’ve put together this video so you can hear directly from the delegates themselves on why being at COP15 is so important to them, and the countries they represent. Click below to hear directly from Christina, Carlos, Paul, Luana and Rikana.
Reports are coming in that Kevin Rudd has been bullying our Pacific neighbours at the conference – many countries that these young delegates come from. Click here to call Stand up to Rudd the bully.
Want to find out more about GetUp’s Pacific delegation? Click on the photos below to find out more. Plus stay tuned for a special Pacific delegation report back this week!
 Carlos Kusto |
 Paul Nalau |
 Luana Bosanquet-Heays |
 Rikana Toroma |
 Christina Ora |
As climate talks drag on, low-lying atolls are already being flooded.
By Christina Ora, 11th December 2009
I am 17 years old. For my entire life, countries have been negotiating a climate agreement. My future is in front of me. In the year that I was born, amid an atmosphere of hope, the world formed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to solve the climate crisis.
This week I told negotiators at the main plenary session of the UN Climate Change Conference that time is running out and my generation needs them to work together to come up with the agreement that we deserve.
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Inspiring stuff – GetUp members funded 17 year-old Solomon Islander Christina Ora’s trip to Copenhagen. Yesterday she was selected as the only youth representative to address the conference – and did an absolutely amazing job! That’s the power of our movement – thanks to everyone who chipped in to make this magical moment possible. Check out the video here, and stay tuned for more updates from our fantastic Pacific delegates!
Click here for a transcript of the video (pdf).
World leaders need to know the consequences of the decisions they make at Copenhagen.
We found passionate, articulate and knowledgeable Pacific Islanders to share their personal stories about the impacts of climate change, but neither they (nor their governments) could afford to send them to the negotiations.
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