Yesterday, along with 48 other climate change activists, I stood on the steps of the State Department to make sure the world knew, that President Bush knew, that he does not represent my voice on climate change. Today is the last day in a two day sham of a meeting that President Bush called on climate change with heads of states from the largest greenhouse gas emitters. 

49 of us, including the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of Greenpeace were arrested within just a few hundred feet of this meeting. We chanted "This meeting is a fraud" and "No More Hot Air, Clean Energy Now" for almost two hours before being given 3 warnings from the police to move our protest or face arrest. No one moved.

My blogs on this site are usually cheeky and full of odd info about issues surrounding the chemical industry, but today I'm talking about the single biggest, most devastating issue to face our generation. I couldn't be cheeky if I tried right now.

This afternoon I attended a rally on the opposite side of the State Department building that we stood early yesterday morning. One speaker said that it doesn't matter if we cured cancer today or if we had the ability to end all wars because the effects of climate change on humanity will cause food and water shortages, death of species and villages, and violence if we do not continue to act like our lives depended on it. Because it does.

I went to jail yesterday along side 48 other activists who believe the same things I do:

• President Bush does not represent my voice on climate change.

• The world needs to move on with real global warming solutions without the United States.

• and finally this issue is so important to my life that I am willing to put my liberty on the line until there is real action on climate change.

 

Renee.  

It's been a pretty crazy week here in the US, with the UN meeting on climate in New York at the beginning of the week then down to Bush’s farce here in Washington which started today.

Arriving at the end of the Mall early this morning, as the sun was coming up, I saw a huge flock of Canada geese milling about on the grass. I figured they were probably on the way south from Alaska where last month the ice melt was more than 1 million square km more than last year's record low. What will climate change do to their Alaskan summer home?

The other flock on the lawn of the Mall was the tidiest looking bunch of environmentalists I'd seen in a while. Everyone had dusted off their suits for the dignified protest we were going to do outside the meeting.

The media was gathering, and delegates to the meeting starting to go in.

Let's be clear: there is a world of difference between the UN and the Bush meeting. The UN one was born out of concern at the lack of international action on climate. Today's meeting in Washington is about Bush trying to deflect criticism on climate change ahead of the US elections next year. He has no intention of taking any real action and, instead, is trying to stop that action happening without him. The only part Bush played in the UN meeting was going to the official dinner.

So outside the State Department, about 50 people from Greenpeace and three other groups marched up the street groups with a big banner reading “Bush: wrong way on global warming” and went straight to the front of the building. The protest went on for about three hours before most of them were arrested, including the head of Greenpeace US, John Passacantando.

I was running round dealing with the many media milling about, so wasn't in an "arrestable situation" shall we say. But it was great hearing so many Americans with the message "President Bush doesn't speak for me." Recent polls show that more than half the country disapproves of the way he is [or isn't] dealing with climate change.

Almost all of the protestors were arrested – they're currently in jail, and we're waiting to hear how long they'll be and what will happen to them. I'm so proud of my colleagues who turned up this morning saying "ok I'm prepared to get arrested for this – this is the most important issue I'll ever work on."

Meanwhile other colleagues Steph and John arrived back out from the meeting – they'd sat through speeches from Condoleezza Rice and Bush’s environmental advisor John Connaughton. Both of them were talking about the "need to act" and "work together." Translation: "we need to LOOK as though we're acting so that Bush doesn't get a hard time on climate change before next year's elections" and work to point the finger at China instead of doing anything at home.

Bush speaks tomorrow – but we know he won't be taking any action on climate. My message to him: Kyoto: just DO IT!

In September 2007, a few days before the United Nations high level meeting for climate change—in which Greenpeace China's campaign director, Lo Sze Ping, is invited to address 70 heads of state (including Bush) about what we believe countries should do to protect the climate—Greenpeace is also invited by the office of the Secretary General to meet the Secretary General himself in private. When my colleague informs me that on behalf of Greenpeace China , I am to be part of the Greenpeace delegation, my first reaction is, "You have to be kidding me! I am just a 26-year old girl! What am I going to say to when I meet Mr. Ban Ki-moon?!"

For me, meeting Ban Ki-moon is the equivalent of meeting a rock star like Michael Jackson or the Beatles. For one, we are both Korean and he is currently probably one of the best known Koreans in the world. Moreover, I admire his values and the fact that he takes the problems of this world so personally—in his recent piece in the International Herald Tribune, he stated that as a child of the Korean War, he grew up viewing the United Nations as a savior, an organization which helped his country recover and rebuild from a devastating conflict. And this is in turn made him devote his life to public service. For me, this has amazing resonance—having lived in many countries, such as Korea, Latin America, the USA, and now my new home China, where I was and still am extremely affected by all the environmental devastation and poverty I see, I also take the problems of the world very personally, which has in turn led me to work for Greenpeace.

So back to the story of meeting Ban Ki-moon. We arrive to the United Nations building in New York City. The United Nations building is a great place to be—seeing people from different nationalities and ethnicities working, visiting and interacting in harmony in this 38-story building is such an inspiring sight, and you can’t help but to wonder why the rest of the world cannot be like this. After passing through various security checks, four other Greenpeace colleagues and myself finally go up to the top floor where the office of the Secretary General is located. We are warmly greeted by a various UN staff and then suddenly there he is—Mr. Ban Ki-moon himself.

I am almost star-struck. It is almost an out-of-space feeling, meeting someone whose face you are so familiar with from TV and newspapers but you have never met before. His face almost has a sense of tranquility, and I think 'this is the reason why this man can lead one of the most complex organizations with the largest mission in the world.' We all stand in line to greet the secretary general. When it is my turn to shake hands with him, I introduce myself in Korean, and tell him that I am representing Greenpeace China. He seems to be very surprised and very happy to see a fellow Korean working for Greenpeace and representing a country that is not her own, much like himself. He doesn't let my hand go for about 20 seconds and continues to shake it, and in the meantime asks me various questions including why I am working in China as a Korean and whether I speak Chinese, making me blush all along the way.

We sit down, and briefly exchange words about the future of climate change. When it comes to my turn, I briefly introduce him to our work in China, and tell him how we engage policy makers in China and showcase to them that it is possible to achieve economic growth while stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions by increasing renewable energy and energy efficiency while decreasing China's dependency on coal. I also introduce him to our work on raising awareness on climate change. I give him the example of how young people in China are becoming increasingly interested in climate change, as shown by how much interest Greenpeace's Himalaya expedition blog, where we discussed how rapidly glaciers are retreating, got in the major Chinese websites (200,000 hits in a few hours!). I am very happy when he in turn tells us that he has been following Greenpeace's work for a long time and that he admires what we do, and how much impact we have made in the climate change front. He also tells us we have to continue to push countries as well as inspire the public to act on climate change. He clearly understands the impact that NGOs can have in addressing a societal issue, and am ecstatic to hear from one of the highest and most admired political leaders in the world that Greenpeace indeed has been making positive change.

The meeting ends, and as I come out of the office still feeling elated and numb. I ask myself: 'Did that just happen?! Did I just exchange various words with the secretary general of the United Nations?!' I truly hope that I have done justice in not only representing Greenpeace but also the young people from China and Asia, and have let Mr. Ban know that indeed we do care about climate change and that we do fully support the United Nations and individual countries in their efforts to combat climate change. I am also personally determined to continue the fight against climate change, no matter how difficult it is or how long it takes.

Jamie Choi
Greenpeace China