Long Day

Elizabeth May

My day started forcing myself out of bed with the aim of being at the front of the line for credentials when the process was set to resume at 8 AM.  We had tried on Saturday, waiting in line an hour before realizing waiting for credentials would make me late for a meeting. Credentials are a must, so after a bus and Metro ride in the pre-dawn chill, my daughter and I made it to the convention centre before 7 AM.  But we were not the first in line...about 50 people were aead of us. It was a cold morning and nothing intensifies cold like standing in line. The UN officials seem not to have enough staff any day and we did not get into the building until 10 AM.

It took another 40 minutes or so and by 11 am, I had credentials. In some ways, this was the challenge of the day. One young woman wrote me later in the day that she had waited for over 9 hours only to be turned away.


George Monbiot was having trouble getting his credentials when I last saw him....

Getting into the building was a nightmare today, but it will be much worse tomorrow.  The UN secretariat has accredited 40,000 participants and 5000 media for a space that holds 15,000. Starting tomorrow they will start rationing admission.  Each non-government delegation has to reduce itself by about 50%.  Admission cards are required in addition to accreditation badges.  And, by Thursday, only 90 observers will be allowed in the building.  90 out of  over 10,000 who came here with advance confirmation they could attend.

So the squeeze on space, on transparency, on credibility is quite like the debate on carbon. We will be experiencing cap and trade in the ngo world, while governments are not asked to take on any reduction.

The highpoint in my day was meeting with the 35 young people here with the Canadian climate youth movement.

Young people from NB, Nunavut, BC and all over Canada are working tirelessly to make a difference in these negotiations.