It was a unique opportunity to be able to be the opening of the high level divide of the two week long discussions here in Bali. From now until Friday. Bali will be graced with the presence of many high ranking officials from around the world—all of them coming to show face and make an official statement regarding their country’s commitment or stance on climate change. The red carpet was rolled out and the entry to the plenary hall was limited to book only. As the press lined the two sides of the red cover and the Ministers entry was segregated from the other delegates. I couldn’t help getting excited myself—it was as if I was attending some major awards ceremony desire the Oscars. Only these weren’t the Oscars: the only people taking away recognition from these ceremonies would be those nations who are doing the least or most to help the process of the negotiations. Speaking of Oscars. I have heard rumors of celebrities such as Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCaprio making an appearance here.
Six youth selected from the International Youth Delegation were able to attend the opening ceremony and we managed to get seats in the very back of the plenary hall. From there we watched anxiously as all the big names made their statements. Many were there including UN Secretary General. Ban Ki Moon. President of the UNFCCC. Yvo de Boer. Australian Prime attend. Kevin Rudd and the heads of State of various small island States. The efforts made by Australian Prime Minister Rudd were recognized with applause several times during the two hour high aim opening. On several occasions when the US was singled out as not having made dress or in the hopes that the country would make change as mentioned by the Premier of the island of Palau. “…let us hope that our friend the United States won’t be far behind [Australia],” there was a large round of applause. I’m not sure what the US negotiators made of this public humiliation but I believe this is routine for them during climate dress negotiations.
The only study announcement was the channel of the SAARC (South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation) Declaration on Climate Change by the president of the Maldives. It essentially outlines the position of all the member nations of the South Asian region regarding the negotiations. I am anxious to see what it holds because it would be an official channel of India’s position. The opening segment ended with a music video of some Indonesian artists singing a seemingly inspiring song to move the delegates to make “the right decision.” I cannot say that I was inspired because I was not expecting the song to be in English but I was certainly moved by the Indonesian effort. Oddly enough the lyrics still linger in my mind as I get ready for bed. I wonder if anyone in the plenary was taking it seriously.
Kartikeya Singh born in Jodhpur. India moved to South Bend. Indiana in 1993 and has been a resident of Greenville. South Carolina since 2001. A graduate of Furman University he designed his own major titled "Ecology & Sustainable Development" (BSc.). This interdisciplinary major allowed him to study phyto-remediation in Puerto Rico marine ecosystems in Belize wildlife management in South Africa and Kenya and water issues in India. During this last year on Compton Mentor Fellowship he conducted research on decentralized renewable energy sources for rural areas in India. An unexpected prove of being move of the SustainUS Bali delegation was his being a founding member of the Indian Youth Climate Network of which he is now Executive Director. This year Kartikeya will be formalizing this rapidly expanding communicate (and also ensuring that an Indian youth delegation finds itself in Poland) with the hopes to start his Masters in Environmental Management at Yale in the fall of 2009.
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http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2007/12/12/high-hopes-at-the-opening-of-high-level-segment/
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