Local students take part in Copenhagen climate conference

By CHAD DALLY

Published: Monday, January 4, 2010 10:42 AM CST
Catherine Cogger and Aurora Conley never crossed paths in Copenhagen during the recent climate change summit. But the two bay area students are both working on how some of the planet's least-represented populations are, and will continue to be, impacted by climate change.

Cogger, who graduated from Washburn in 2006, is studying environmental anthropology at Michigan Tech University, and is currently spending a semester in Norway.

Conley, a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, was one of 12 delegates from the Midwest who traveled to Copenhagen with the Will Steger Foundation, started by the polar explorer. While there, she also worked with the Indigenous Environmental Network, and is currently working toward a renewable energy certificate at Lac Courte Oreilles Community College.

Both were among thousands of people — among them world leaders, activists, media and others - in Denmark in early to mid-January for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP15.

What emerged in policy was a non-binding goal to keep the global temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius, and President Barack Obama at the conference pledged the U.S. would cut emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels, by 2020 and up to 80 percent by 2050. The U.S. House has passed a climate bill, but its fate in the Senate is unknown.

Developed nations also agreed to contribute to a fund - $30 billion over the next three years and as much as $100 billion by 2020 - for mitigation and adaptation actions among developing countries.

For Conley, traveling to Copenhagen offered the chance to connect with citizens of those developing countries and work with them to raise awareness of the concerns and rights of indigenous people throughout the world.

She came to the city with experience under her belt, having worked as an executive assistant for Winona LaDuke and Honor the Earth, a Native-led non-profit environmental organization. But she was quick to mention that she prefers not to be pigeonholed as an environmentalist or an activist, since the main motivation comes from a place of tradition and culture and the Native American ethic of caring for the land. Conley is also working as an intern with the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission.

The trip gave Conley the chance to talk with indigenous people from other countries, learn about what they're doing in their own communities and hear about the impacts that climate change has already had on nations like Kenya and Sri Lanka, for example - impacts that will only continue to emerge and affect day-to-day life in countries that have contributed little to climate change in terms of emissions that cause climate change, but nonetheless are directly affected by climate change impacts.

Conley said the Will Steger Foundation specifically chose representatives from the Midwest because some of the region's congressional delegation hold key positions in Congress, and because of the region's reliance on fossil fuels and subsequent contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.

The Indigenous Environmental Network for which she worked led a march by tens of thousands of people through the streets of Copenhagen, and Conley was with the group right up front carrying a banner. She also participated in a plenary session with Bolivian President Evo Morales, the first indigenous president to be elected in centuries.

Prior to the trip, Conley spoke with high school students in Superior and Ashland, and said an important part of the conference was to also make the voices of the youth heard in Copenhagen.

"We just wanted to make sure we had a presence," she said Friday, "and to remind them that it's important to think about us, too."

She also said she did not approach the conference with a particular goal or agenda in terms of policy, but to engage in discussion not only with like-minded people from other countries, and to continue a dialogue regardless of viewpoint.

"It's not really about getting someone on 'our side,'" Conley said. "It's talking with people and sharing stories and getting people to open up and see where we're coming from."

Still, while she and Cogger both gained insight into other countries and cultures, they also heard the perspectives from others about the United States and its role in approaching climate change.

"The world is watching us, watching our leaders and wondering what they're going to do," Conley said, adding with a laugh, "we want to know, too."

Cogger said via email that citizens of other countries feel action in the U.S. has fallen short when compared to its contribution toward climate change.

"The general response, both from fellow developed and developing countries, is that the U.S. needs to take responsibility for its ongoing significant contribution to global warming," she said.

But Cogger said she also heard the sentiment that demand for material goods in the United States remains high and is supplied in large part by China.

"Quite a few citizens from developing countries expressed outright anger that many U.S. citizens, while continuing to consume enormous amounts of goods will still foist the blame on other countries or remain inactive within their own communities to make changes to this cycle," she said.

While in Copenhagen, Cogger also saw a lecture by Will Steger - another unknown connection with Conley - and said she was particularly struck by photographic montage of the collapse of the Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica.

"This particular ice shelf had been around since the last ice age 10,000 years ago, and was about 650 feet thick and 1,200 square miles.  The bulk of this ice shelf, which was about the size of Rhode Island virtually disintegrated in 2002," she wrote.

In her studies of environmental anthropology, Cogger will attempt to learn firsthand how populations, including indigenous people - deal with climatic changes, land use remediation or degradation and other environmental stimuli.

While Cogger said she was disappointed with the final outcome of the U.N. conference, both she and Conley both spoke of the importance of action at home, and that work is far from over.

"Not everyone has the monetary means to outfit their homes in the latest 'green' technologies, but that shouldn't prevent people from thinking about other ways to diminish their carbon footprint," Cogger said.

Conley said while it was extremely important to engage world leaders and others older than her in Copenhagen, there's a certain amount of self-interest and land interest because of impacts from decisions made by older generations.

"We will continue to fight, and I hope that in two generations, when I become an old lady, that there's someone just as young and inspired and dedicated as I am to continue that work," she said. "That's why I was over there - pushing the people I will become one day.

"As world leaders and politicians, it's there job to listen to us, and it's our job as citizens to inform them," she said.

See the online article from the Daily Press website - Jan 4, 2010