Notes from Copenhagen: America Must Lead on Climate Change

As a local leader for the League of Women Voters, I was a member of an eight woman observer delegation to Copenhagen for the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. Along with thousands of other members of nongovernmental organizations, including the 75 member delegation from the Sierra Club, I was one of 40,000 credentialed people to stand in line to witness history in the making.

As the hosts of the meeting, the Danes pushed delegates to take action during the opening session to the conference. The Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, began the opening speeches simply noting that we have to change. The Mayor of Copenhagen, Her Excellency Ritt Bjerregård, noted that cities contribute 75% of emissions and attribute to 50% of the population - they must be part of the solution. Mayors from the largest cities are ready... Copenhagen's goal is to the first carbon neutral city by 2025. She implored delegates to seal the deal while delegates were in her city dubbed Hopenhagen for the Conference. Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change urged action by delegates. We have eight days to get ready with a package...The time for formal statements is over. Turn the work that has been done into action.

The rest of the conference seems like a dream now: grueling days with little sleep, catching up on what happened on positioning by negotiating blocs, revised texts and long lines to pass through security as more and more delegations showed up to get into the building- -which at capacity could take 15,000 people. As the conference came closer to heads of states arriving, the process broke down time and time again. The issue: whether the conference would result in a legally binding agreement or not.

The events of the conference didn't stop the media blitz that the NGOs fueled or the protests inside and outside the building. Youth delegates would ask everyone, How old will you be in 2050?, the year that emission targets would have the industrialized world at 80% below 1990 levels. Yet, none of the civil society outrage was seen, felt or appreciated by country negotiators as ministers and other officials used separate entrances. Since we barely left the building, the only coverage we saw of protests was through closed circuit T.V. that had no sound.

You know the outcome. There are several takes on what happened and how it happened - but the Copenhagen Accord is anything but fair, ambitious or binding. January 31 is the date for countries to confirm their affirmation of the Accord and submit their emissions targets. We will all watch to see who steps up to support the Accord and how ambitious their committed emission reduction targets really are. There are also indications coming from the U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change that they plan to negotiate a binding deal outside the normal U.N. process to escape the negotiation difficulties they experienced in Copenhagen. One thing is certain, as Robert Orr, U.N. assistant secretary-general for policy coordination and strategic planning, said 2010 is all about us finalizing a deal.

But as Sierra Club members,we all know that our country hasn't done enough.

I implore you, as a citizen of the world, to do your part in decreasing your carbon footprint to allow entire nations of people to still have a home; for our animals to have habitats either in the Arctic or at the equator; for all peoples of the world to have a standard of health that is not deteriorated by massive floods, droughts and heat.

What are you doing to decrease your reliance on dirty energy sources? There are easy things we can all do, from turning off lights to eating less beef, to walking or riding your bike. We can all do more.

In the meantime, the world will continue to look to California to see evidence of state action as we implement A.B. 32. The Air Resources Board released their proposed regulation last month for the cap-and-trade program and solicited feedback on how implement the index.

In all, as we begin 2010, we must pass legislation through the U.S. Senate curbing our carbon emissions. President Obama has challenged Congress to pass legislation by June. My hope is that America sets ambitious emission reduction targets that require the United States to stretch ourselves - we are the leaders of the free world; its time for our country to act like it.

Jennifer lives in Newport Beach. You can read her blog on the Copenhagen experience.