Wednesday 12/9

One of the problems with not blogging right away is that you forget what happened that day....  So, a broad summary of one thing, although there was much more. 

I attended the side event "Indigenous people's assessment of the current negotiations: issues and ways forward in Copenhagen".  This was very interesting, and the room was packed full of people.  The panel of presenters were all members of indigenous people's groups in locations such as Alaska, Norway, and Peru.  They spoke about need for human rights in the negotiations.  There are extremely few references currently.  These people are pleading the developed countries for change, because in almost all cases they contribute the least to climate change but are most affected by it, yet their voices are being ignored.  One point they enforced was the need for adaptation funds, not just funds for mitigation. 
The thing that stuck with me most from this side event was the reminder that these indigenous groups have an incredible understanding of living with ecosystems.  They have a very long history of successful adaption and management practices.  Their knowledge is necessary and complementary to climate science.  Without the full participation of everyone, one presenter said, this convention will fail.
There was also a butterfly flitting around during this session, which was really interesting.