Florence Reynolds: Changeons le systeme?

I write this from my inner city Parisian hostel, nose still stinging from tear gas, sirens drowning out the background traffic noise.

This morning, I set out to observe and document the civil society demonstrations that were planned to take place despite the French Government's ban on protests of "two or more people with a political message".

India Logan-Riley: Those Sunday Protests

This spirit of grit was on my mind as I rode the metro to Place de la République, a square in central Paris, with the rest of the delegation from the Aotearoa Youth Leadership Institute. Given the attacks that happened on November 13, the French government had banned public protest actions until stated otherwise. Determined to still be part of the global climate change protest wave that was happening around the world on the eve of the Conference of the Parties and the completion of the climate change agreement, the organisations in charge of coordinating the People’s Climate March in Paris looked to alternative displays of protest.

Posted on December 3, 2015 .

Florence Reynolds: Hunger speaks a Thousand Words

The fast made me slow. Unable to concentrate, I moved around the convention centre on fossilised legs. The slowmotion state of blood pumping insufficient sugar throughout my circulation felt like a form of death. But death itself was moving too slowly to be lethal. When I stood to give a speech it felt hollow, a cliché reflection of my stomach.

Posted on December 2, 2015 and filed under UN Climate Talks 2015.