{"id":50379,"date":"2011-12-09T12:34:58","date_gmt":"2011-12-09T17:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=50379"},"modified":"2011-12-09T12:38:36","modified_gmt":"2011-12-09T17:38:36","slug":"railing-against-parents-or-growing-up-and-affecting-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/environment\/railing-against-parents-or-growing-up-and-affecting-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Railing against ‘parents’ or growing up and affecting change?"},"content":{"rendered":"

That title is a reference to some thoughts by Eric’s friend Eric Traub in today’s subscriber issue<\/a>. Whichever category the speech below falls in, I found it moving as hell. What follows is the address by Anjali Appadurai, from the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, to the COP-17 UN Conference on Climate Change. She spoke on behalf of youth non-governmental organizations. The chairperson who introduces her states afterward, “And on a purely personal note, I wonder why we let not speak half of the world\u2019s population first in this conference, but only last.” You can read the full rush transcript at Democracy Now!<\/a> — but I encourage you to watch the video clip there<\/strong><\/a>, to get the full force of her passion. – amanda<\/em><\/p>\n

I speak for more than half the world\u2019s population. We are the silent majority. You\u2019ve given us a seat in this hall, but our interests are not on the table. What does it take to get a stake in this game? Lobbyists? Corporate influence? Money? You\u2019ve been negotiating all my life. In that time, you\u2019ve failed to meet pledges, you\u2019ve missed targets, and you\u2019ve broken promises. But you\u2019ve heard this all before.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re in Africa, home to communities on the front line of climate change. The world\u2019s poorest countries need funding for adaptation now. The Horn of Africa and those nearby in KwaMashu needed it yesterday. But as 2012 dawns, our Green Climate Fund remains empty. The International Energy Agency tells us we have five years until the window to avoid irreversible climate change closes. The science tells us that we have five years maximum. You\u2019re saying, “Give us 10.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The most stark betrayal of your generation\u2019s responsibility to ours is that you call this “ambition.” Where is the courage in these rooms? Now is not the time for incremental action. In the long run, these will be seen as the defining moments of an era in which narrow self-interest prevailed over science, reason and common compassion.<\/p>\n

There is real ambition in this room, but it\u2019s been dismissed as radical, deemed not politically possible. Stand with Africa. Long-term thinking is not radical. What\u2019s radical is to completely alter the planet\u2019s climate, to betray the future of my generation, and to condemn millions to death by climate change. What\u2019s radical is to write off the fact that change is within our reach. 2011 was the year in which the silent majority found their voice, the year when the bottom shook the top. 2011 was the year when the radical became reality.<\/p>\n

Common, but differentiated, and historical responsibility are not up for debate. Respect the foundational principles of this convention. Respect the integral values of humanity. Respect the future of your descendants. Mandela said, “It always seems impossible, until it\u2019s done.” So, distinguished delegates and governments around the world, governments of the developed world, deep cuts now. Get it done.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That title is a reference to some thoughts by Eric’s friend Eric Traub in today’s subscriber issue. Whichever category the speech below falls in, I found it moving as hell. What follows is the address by Anjali Appadurai, from the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, to the COP-17 UN Conference on Climate … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[583],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50379"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50379\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}