In general, the Project Survivalists don’t see ourselves as ‘activists’, but advocates. Despite my parents’ blatant fear that I will, at some point, be arrested for chaining myself to a coal power station, I have never been involved in a protest. It was with mixed feelings that I headed into Saturday’s climate march. But thousands of passionate people were fighting for a cause I believe in, and for better or worse, I wanted to be there.

Coming into the city on Saturday there was a strange feeling in the atmosphere. The excitement was perceptible. But there was also a deep feeling of anxiety. Police lined the streets and the train stations, and helicopters circled the sky ominously. Copenhageners peered curiously at the banner-wielding strangers. We were all wondering, but hesitant to put into words, the question on our minds: how will today end?

The march was to start at the Houses of Parliament, and finish at the Bella Centre, where COP15 is being held. We arrived late, but quickly slotted into the crowd that was gathering.

The march was visually spectacular from start to finish. Signs in the crowd spouted messages such as ‘Climate Justice Now!’ and ‘There is no Planet B’. Coming late, it was impossible to figure out where in the crowd we actually were, or whether our friends were ahead or behind us. Taking possession of a conveniently-abandoned ‘Climate Justice Now!’ sign, we embarked upon what was to be a frosty, passionate three-hour walk.

Although later reports confirmed that over 900 people were detained by police, I did not personally see any conflict (although I was sworn at in several languages by a particularly vitriolic shopkeeper). For me, the remarkable thing was the passion and unity of the global climate movement.

I felt too that there was a somber awareness of the historicalness of the moment. Estimates on attendance vary between 25,000 and 100,000 people, making it the largest climate march in history. This was a story for future children and grandchildren- an iconic ‘I was there’ moment that would stay with us all for life.

As the sky darkened, the protesters reached the Bella Centre for a candlelit vigil. I headed home relieved and exhausted. And although it may sound naïve, simply having been there revived my trust in the world. Alone in the excited crowd, it felt for a moment as if perhaps this time, world leaders would listen.

Born in 1992 when the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was signed by 154 states, 17 year old Christina Ora made a moving speech at the closing plenary of the opening of the COP15 on Monday.

Christina made the speech on behalf of the global youth constituency. During the two weeks of the climate change conference, she is working with the Solomon Islands Delegation and Project Survival Pacific, a project of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, to raise the voice of Pacific island countries.

In a moving two minute speech she made in front of thousands of people, Ms Ora said that youth are mobilizing support from millions of people all over the world for the fair, adequate and legally binding agreement that youths deserved.

“I speak on behalf of the international youth to express the urgency of the climate crises for my generation, your children and your grandchildren.

“I was born in 1992, you have been negotiating all my life you cannot tell us that you need more time, commit now to decisions that will guarantee our future,” Ms Ora said.

She said this is the first year for youths to be recognized as an official constituency representing the global youth movement in which young people and youth organizations have joined hands to prevent the negotiators from negotiating their future away.

“It is now your responsibility to build on this support to finally take political action,” Ms Ora said.

After the speech, Mr Ora said that she was honoured to be given the privilege of speaking for the youth constituency.

“I was proud to be a young Solomon Islander, standing up for young people and people from vulnerable communities all over the world,” she said.

Ms Ora was selected to speak on behalf of the global youth because of her experience in Canada when she attended a speaking tour on climate change in October this year.

Christina Ora with Michael Zammit Cutajar, Chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group for Longterm Cooperative Action

PSP ed: COP15 is still feeling the after effects of Christina’s empassioned speech. The chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group for Longterm Cooperative Action, Michael Zammit Cutajar, brought Christina onto stage to congratulate her at the youth briefing on Tuesday. The speech was covered in Australian, Pacific and other international press. And we just found out that Kevin Rudd included a quote from Christina in his letter to all of the delegations:

“You have been negotiating all my life“.

Congratulations to Christina for her speech, Gina for having this article published in the Solomon Star, and the whole PSP team for their tireless efforts to leave the world the way we found it.

For those of you living outside the climate gossip-sphere, 350.org is a global day on which everyone throws a party (or a parade) to raise awareness about climate change. Yes, any party – the Maldives cabinet will hold their meetings under water.  350ppm is the level of carbon dioxide saturation in our atmosphere that is considered to be the safe upper limit.

350 events can range from a bbq or a sleep over to mass action events.

Picnic in the Park

PSP, PeaceTrain, Oxfam, World Vision and Friends of the Earth Brisbane are holding the Picnic in the Park at Newfarm park in Brisbane. At 3pm, join in our event which will include picnics and acrobatics! New Farm Park Picnic in the Park will be the culmination of the day’s events (there is an earlier event in West End – Ultimate Frisbee for 350!) and a major chance to generate media coverage – so bring everyone!

Be there from 3pm-5pm to enjoy live music, stilt walkers and a circus performance and to be a part of making a daisy chain of messages to send to Canberra.  We will have a Very Special Guest arriving by city cat at 3.22pm, so if you’re feeling ever so slightly green on Saturday, or even lonely please bring a snack and a blanket to Newfarm park.

Location: In New Farm Park, close to the riverside and the Powerhouse.

With hot summer fashion, gorgeous models, and an awesome venue, the event was sure to be a crowd pleaser. The only downside was the unexpected rain on Saturday night. Despite this, the night was a huge success, and the team managed to raise $2,000! This money will go directly towards funding young Pacific Islanders to attend the climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December.

PSP would also like to thank all of the people who helped us out, especially our wonderful sponsors, and everyone who made it on the night! Thanks to you, we have made a huge step towards raising the much-needed funds to increase the presence of Pacific Island youth at international climate negotiations.

This week, Lauren Waugh and I were given the opportunity to speak about climate change at Canberra Girls’ Grammar School. The school shares PSP’s belief in the importance of the voice of youth in the climate debate, and were keen for the students to learn a little more about this important issue.

We were given half an hour to speak in front of the year ten and eleven girls, who were eager to hear what we had to say and made us feel very welcome. I explained the science of climate change, and then Lauren talked about the policy.

We also spent a large chunk of our time talking about the Pacific. PSP is often asked “why the Pacific?” For us, it’s simple: small Pacific Island nations will be some of the earliest and hardest hit by climate change. We feel that Australia has an obligation to support our Pacific neighbours, and to help them achieve a just outcome from international negotiations, such as COP15 in Copenhagen this December.

Although Girls’ Grammar has done a great job making sure the kids are informed about issues such as climate change, they had lots of fantastic questions for us. We were also approached at the end by students keen to know what they can do for climate change.

All in all, we were very excited to be given the chance to share our experiences with the Girls’ Grammar community, and hope to speak at more schools over the next few months.

To have PSP speak at your school, contact us at team@youthprojectsurvival.org

 By Emily Davies, Canberra

Girls' Grammar Students Tara Dear, Christabel Richards-Neville, Rebecca Richardson, Mirja McClean Engstrom

“You’re crazy!” we were told time and time again. “Why would you spend sixteen hours on a bus in one weekend? It’s not worth it!” But we were both concerned about the impact of our binge flying on the environment, and we decided it was time we addressed it.

We were apprehensive upon boarding the midnight Greyhound in Canberra. Sitting on a bus for eight hours was certainly not something we were looking forward to, although we were of course happy to do it.

Our apprehension was, as it turns out, unnecessary. I am happy to report that we both slept remarkably well, and the trip felt like it was over before it had even begun. We woke up at seven in the morning to the sight of our beloved Melbourne skyline, and were at the station by eight o’clock.

We had every reason to be emitting carbon-friendly clouds of smug; our bus trip used only one fifth of the carbon per passenger than a plane travelling the same distance. And the fact that so many fantastic people already take such trips by bus shows that avoiding planes where possible is an easy way to reduce your carbon footprint.

Having saved carbon and costs, and still managed to get a good night’s sleep, I couldn’t help but feel that it might be the plane people, not the bus people, who are the crazy ones.

 By Lauren Waugh, Canberra

The conference attendees with the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands

I spent three days there at a conference run by the Climate Action Network. The conference aimed to bring negotiators together to consolidate the message that the Pacific will be bringing to Copenhagen in December this year- so naturally PSP was keen to attend!

The University of the South Pacific (Rarotonga Campus) hosted the conference, which was attended by representatives from Kiribati, Tuvalu, the Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Tokelau, Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand, Australia, and of course, the Cook Islands. The result was a highly diverse group of people of all ages, many of whom had travelled a long way, coming together to work towards a single goal: safeguarding the region’s future against the potentially devastating effects of climate change.

On Day 1, Jim Salinger (a lecturer at the University of Auckland and scientist from the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change) gave several fantastic presentations. This was certainly a helpful way for the non-scientists in the room to consolidate our understanding. Unfortunately, the latest science is painting a very bleak picture, with many projecting that sea levels are set to rise much faster than previously anticipated. This probably contributed to the dedication and hard work displayed by the attendees during the conference.

During the three days, I collaborated with Ben Namakin and Aaron Packard from 350.org to finalise the Pacific Youth Declaration, which was put together by the attendees at the Pacific Youth Festival in Suva recently. Ben and Aaron and I also did a presentation for the conference on the role of youth in the climate change debate- the fact that a room full of such accomplished environmental activists were willing to listen to a presentation on youth is, I believe, testament to the importance of what young people have to say! We also got the chance to chat with some young Rarotongans about engaging their communities in climate activism.

Even though I was pleased and proud of all that had been achieved in such a short space of time, I felt quite sad leaving the island. Rarotonga is an incredible place, and it deeply saddens me to think that due to the actions of nations such as Australia, its future may hang in the balance.  Though I learned a lot about climate science, mitigation, adaptation and finance this week, I took away something far more important: a true appreciation of just how much is at stake if we fail.