Dewy Sacayan: UN Slumber Party Essentials

This weekend, I will be living in a box as a fundraiser for the victims of Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu. This 24 hour challenge got me thinking about the things I desperately need to survive. More importantly, this challenge made me reminisce the time I slept over at the UN. 

First things first, why would someone even sleep over at a UN conference? 

Negotiators are not the best people at time management. Throughout the year, preliminary meetings and bilateral/regional talks happen in preparation for the convention. They talk and lobby with a lot of countries but seem not do so efficiently because meetings still run over time. Is it because the climate change topic is truly a big issue to discuss? Or is it because countries just like to exhaust time so that they do not have to compromise? Whatever the answer is, UN conferences such as COP20 always go over time. Thus, it is likely that you will see diplomats and civil society alike scrambling for a seat/couch/corner/beanbag to sleep in on the last few days of negotiations. 

This brings me to the gist of this piece - what do you need to bring if you're going to sleepover at the UN? 

1. Jackets/Jumpers - These pieces of clothing are good for keeping you warm or to use as make shift pillows. They might be quite bulky to carry around during the day, but it's definitely worth the sacrifice. 

2. Extension cords - Finding a free plug in a plenary full of people is a mission. Bring an extension cord to save you and your friends the trouble. You don't want to be the only person not tweeting when negotiators turn crazy and use silly metaphors. 

3. Snacks - Although the canteen had orders to keep serving food throughout the night, there was a point where they ran out of food (or at least the ones we could afford). Bring some snacks to keep you going and to save yourself from queuing up. 

4. Toothbrush and Toothpaste - You are going to be in the same venue as dignitaries and ministers. You definitely do not want to have the morning breath after an uncomfortable sleep in a solid couch.

5. Eye Mask and Ear Plugs - The conference venue in Lima was particularly bright and loud. So if you cannot sleep with lights on or with loud people around, just like me, be sure to bring these two things!

Dewy Sacayan: Protest-virgin no more

When I was 10 year old, I told my dad that my dream job was to become a political activist. There was just something about  shouting on the streets that intrigued me. Obviously, my dad (who worked tirelessly as an architect) said, "No Dewy. You can't be an activist. You're going to be a lawyer."

A decade later, my dream of marching finally came true. Thanks to AYLI's Rachel Dobric and Adopt a Negotiator tracker, David Tong's protest tips and advices,  I took on the streets of Lima for the People's Climate March. 

The People's Climate March in Lima was vibrant, loud and purposeful.  Indigenous people, women activists, senior citizens, youths and even children joined the protest! With latin music playing and people dancing on the streets, the protest encompassed the culture of South America as well as the beauty our world can potentially have when people come together.

Here are a few snaps of how it went: 

Started the day with a boost of caffeine and energy from Arabica

AYLI delegate Renee with NZYD delegates Maddie and Tarsh with their slogans. 

Me and cactus man. 

Dancing indigenous mascots ft. whistle

Overall, I am happy I got to shout what I wanted governments to do - 100% renewables. I am happy I got to spend a hot day in Lima with thousands of people who has unlimited love for our finite planet. And finally, I am very happy I am a protest-virgin no more! 

Dewy Sacayan: NZ just did what to our future children?

Prior to attending the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Peru, I thought that I was going to have an easy time representing a country that is known to be clean and green. I was wrong.

Contrary to popular belief and perceptions, New Zealand is one of the worst greenhouse gas emitters and also one of the countries who heartbreakingly commits less than its capability. So, we and our future children can say hello to extreme weather and more droughts, all thanks to the New Zealand government.

Like high school cliché groups wherein you become cool if you’re part of the cliques, New Zealand is part of the Umbrella Group, a collective of rich countries who give their best in doing the least. New Zealand portrays that it is doing its fair share when, in fact, its emissions have increased by 25% and its contributions to the Green Climate Fund are two times less than Columbia – a third world country. Awkward.

Despite all of these disappointments, civil societies continue to give the government grief. For example, the Coal Action Network Aotearoa put a strong demonstration where they asked the minister to stop throwing their heads in the sand and start looking at the reality of climate change.

Photo from Coal Action Network Aotearoa by Peter Rees

 Another more direct instance where civil society gave them grief was when New Zealand Youth Delegation delegate, Maddie Little, gave her condolences to Climate Change and Economic Minister Tim Grosser for his loss of ambition during a meeting inside COP20. Complete with a bouquet of flowers and a consolidated sheet of what the government can and should do to alleviate climate change, the confrontation was truly a success.

Photo from New Zealand Youth Delegation by Chris Bean

It is about time that people realise that we live in a world where climate change is no longer questioned scientifically. We all know how the Earth contains the heat that is produced by the sun as well as greenhouse gases that are emitted by cars, animals and burning fossil fuels for energy. These greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere and traps most of the heat making our climate warmer. In fact, Stanford University’s Stanford Woods Institute for Environment senior fellows Noah Diffenbaugh and Chris Field found that climate change is occurring 10 times faster.No wonder many of our neighbouring small island states are suffering from sea level rise, drought and extreme heat. All of these exacerbate their territories from sinking.

What would happen to our neighbours when they lose their land you might ask?  

 If the New Zealand government fail to implement our target emissions, we will inevitably accommodate citizens from our neighbouring countries as environmental refugees. I am not saying that taking in refugees is bad in fact I advocate the opposite. As an immigrant, I think that helping those in need and providing refugees a better and more secure future is vital. However, I feel more for those people who will lose their land, their connection with their land, their families and possibly lose their cultural structure and practices.

Thus, the New Zealand government who prides itself as the leader of small states upon winning a seat in the UNSC, would need to do more in committing and implementing nationally determined target emissions as well as making decisions that prioritises the environment over economic gain.

Also, our government should include the youth in the decision making process as we are essential the stakeholders of the future. One way it could do this is by allowing youths to join the official New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade delegation to United Nations conferences such as the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties as liaisons or advisers.

More importantly, the government should listen to the policy cries and asks of civil societies. Since 2015 is the last year countries will negotiate in the UNFCCC, civil societies are more fired up to put pressure on the government to make policies that align with what future generations need – an Earth that is below 2 C. As you read this, many campaigns from national climate action network such as Generation Zero are brewing up. Similarly, many international climate working groups such as Fast for the Climate are also bringing together people from different corners of the world to engage in actions that will open the eyes of governments and ordinary people alike to the harsh and devastating realities of climate change in countries that have been affected and continue to suffer.  

This is the year when 190 countries will draft and sign a climate agreement which will determine whether we can look forward to a future with less extreme weather conditions. Will countries actually sign this agreement? I don’t know 

But what I do know is that this 2015 agreement is not the sole answer to the climate issue. What I also know is that international process is very slow because little agreement happen due to the fact that countries are out there to protect their national interests. So what I hope is for communities and individuals give their share in stopping climate change. I hope that we can live a more eco-friendly life so we and our children can have a future on Earth.