At the last day of the #COP21, the thousands of people with diverse nationality gathered to voice out their wants to the people in the plenary halls. People dressed in red hats, red clothes, red scarfs, red gloves holding red umbrellas and red banners to draw their #RedLines, from Arc de Triomphe to the renowned Eiffel Tower.
The #D12 action is the largest civil disobedience movement during the period of COP21. It only obtained the police’s consent a few days before the action day as Paris is under emergency state.
First time participating in large scale climate movement like this, I was very impressed by the pumped-up atmosphere of the rally. The high-spirited chants and rallying calls are very influential; I felt so agitated when I heard them before I exit the train station! I immediately joined the troop, holding the hundred-metre long banner and thrusting the inflatable cobblestone, as I amplified my cries.
A video posted by #PowerShiftMsia (@powershiftmsia) on
Another thing that caught my attention was the attendance of the senior citizens. Not one or two, there was hundreds of them. I saluted them for standing up for the future generations and making the movement an all-age one, instead of youth only.
The chants were very creative and rhymed, which strengthened the voice of the people and enhanced the “oomph” of the calls. My favourite ones was “The people, u-ni-ted, will never be de-fea-ted” and “It’s up, to us, to keep it in the ground”. Till now I can still hear the deafening chants vividly repeating beside my ears.
In a nutshell, I am very glad that I joined the march and I appreciate the sense of belonging that the people at the action gave me. Although I failed to participate in the planning and preparation of the #D12 movement, I felt proud of my teammate, Amalen who joined the process of making the astounding banner and of coordinating the movement! It might be even better if we are allowed to sit in the bridge across the Seine river longer instead of moving towards the square under the Eiffel.
A video posted by #PowerShiftMsia (@powershiftmsia) on
It was as exhilarating as the first-time experience of I giving an intervention during the SBSTA closing plenary. The fun and epic moments of occupying the bridge in front of the Eiffel Tower and speaking to random strangers (which I like to address them as my yet-to-know friends) is one of the most enjoyable time that I had in Paris.
For more details and photos, search #D12 and #redlines @ Google!
ASEAN, GEC: Towards Low Carbon and Climate Resilient ASEAN Community Post-2015
Despite the countless negotiation meetings and hectic schedule, Dr Gary Theseira, our respectable Head of the Malaysian Delegation in COP21 has spoken in the “Towards Low Carbon and Climate Resilient ASEAN Community Post-2015”, particularly on the “Cooperation among the ASEAN Countries on Climate Change”. “(This is) new era of sharing on a number of (different) levels,” said Dr. Gary. Five points of the ASEAN collaboration on climate change: 1. Sharing on information – countries have been sharing the information about the threats such as the rising sea level and the extreme events, at very detailed levels. Furthermore, the Southeast Asia countries have their diversity in terms of climate change action. For example, not all of them do carbon labelling. In this case, Thailand which made a good position in carbon labelling (Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management & Asian Institute of Technology) can share their knowledge and experience with their neighbouring nations. 2. Sharing expertise – different ASEAN countries have different forte in addressing climate change. For instance, Thailand has good education program whilst Singapore has invested a lot of effort on private sectors. Exchange in expertise will improve the capacity of each country.
3. Collaboration of monitoring and hotspots researching – A number of joint programs related to forest and natural areas have been organized between countries, for example, the Borneo forest. When two countries work together, there will be much lesser trouble on forest management and can prevent biodiversity trafficking. 4. Familiarize each other with climate finance and funds – Not all ASEAN countries are familiar with the private sectors of financing and climate. Malaysia’s Green Building Index, which is a monitor system of the building’s lifecycle (eg, carbon emission), is not common in the Southeast Asia region. Therefore, sharing of information should be done to improve communication and knowledge. 5. Drafting the Joint Statement on Climate Change – Although the ASEAN is not a negotiation bloc in the COP21, we have been working as a group to produce the joint statement for 2 consecutive years. This has strengthened the bond among the countries and showed that they are taking it very serious, as the ASEAN members are vulnerable. Food security, indigenous people are important yet fragile in these nations.
Time: 17:12
Author: Loh Rachel, 18 (Selangor, Malaysia)
Current location: Yoyogi Olympics Memorial Youth Center (Tokyo, Japan)
I spent the last night of COY11 Tokyo editing the Youth of East Asia Action Agenda Declaration with Kotoe (one of the main Organisers of the event). The participants worked tirelessly to ensure that the declaration is truly representative of the East Asian youths. We addressed issues related to climate change such as: rising sea levels, poverty, haze, etc. by coming up with creative and innovative youth-led initiatives.
COY 11 Tokyo!
One of the many highlights of the day was the Earth Parade (a.k.a Global Climate March). It was my first time participating in a demonstration and it was exhilarating! We walked approximately 1.5km holding up our signs and chanting about the importance of protecting our Earth. Sze Ming, another representative from Malaysia, has a short clip of the parade on her Instagram account (@szemingg). Additionally, you can check out Power Shift Malaysia’s FB page for more awesome pictures of the Earth Parade.
Fun fact: the Earth Parade is known as the Global Climate March in other countries. Pictures of the march is now all over social media, with posts originating from Paris to Penang!
Lastly, I am extremely grateful to AirAsia for sponsoring our (Malaysian Youth Delegation) flights to Tokyo so that we could attend COY11. I had the opportunity to connect on a more personal level with youth leaders from countries such as Korea and France. And more importantly, contribute to the Youth of East Asia Action Agenda Declaration, which will be published soon on: Tokyo.coy11.org . So, domo arigatou once again, AirAsia!
Date: Friday, 27th November 2015
Time: 22:57
Author: Loh Rachel, 18 (Selangor, Malaysia)
Current location: Yoyogi Olympics Memorial Youth Center (Tokyo, Japan)
So before I begin my account of today’s activities, this is a quote that really stuck with me today: “We shouldn’t live at the expense of our younger generation.”
My highlight of the day was the poster making session for the Earth Parade where we designed posters for the march tomorrow. Along with part three of the “Youth of East Asia Action Agenda” (YEAAA) brainstorming session. We will be finalising the declaration tomorrow as well, so it’s a really busy and productive evening for all of us here at COY11 Tokyo! Our declaration will be representing the voices of the youths of East Asia and will be sent to world leaders in time for COP21 to ensure our(the youths’) opinions are taken into account during the negotiating process.
The result of our brainstorming session.
I’ve also learnt more about divestment through a short presentation by 350 Japan and a film “This Changes Everything”. The session was really interesting because it shed light on the possibilities of solutions for climate change…. Divestment is one of them (start Google-ing!).
❤️(movie)
Additionally, my group and I learnt more about trans-boundary haze: its relation to climate change and its solutions. We churned out many creative and innovative solutions including: increasing the opportunities for youths to speak up through organising roundtable discussions, combatting the issue of lack of enforcement of environmental laws by establishing a HAZE Watch group. I’ll explain in more detail after finalising the declaration with the COY11 Tokyo committee tomorrow, so please stay tuned!
Making posters for the Earth Parade tomorrow.
Furthermore, I met with many accomplished and talented youths today and snagged interviews with five of them. I will be posting them soon on my social networks in hopes of inspiring youths who are passionate about tackling climate change.
So that’s it from me, I’m extremely excited for the Earth Parade tomorrow (a.k.a. Global Climate March), where COY11 Tokyo participants will be marching from Hibiya Park to “Kajiyabashi”. Not to mention, this movement will be happening in over 150 countries simultaneously!
The event COY 11 Tokyo is being held at National Olympics Memorial Youth Center. Even though the event is taking place in Japan, there is no language barrier between the participants. Most of us understand English and we try to communicate with each other regarding the issue on climate change. I managed to improve on my networking skills. I am grateful to meet like-minded people especially youth from East Asia as there are many common problems we are facing. Here are some of the problems we discussed: haze, poor air quality, sea level rise, ecosystem disruption. I feel that it is very important to not be SHY in front of people. Keep in mind “Be Brave to Speak Out Our Opinions”.
Highlight
One of the highlights of the day is our guest speaker, Mr. Tareshi. He is from Tuvalu and married to a Japanese wife. It is an eye opener to know the presence of Tuvalu country. It is a small country with a population of 11,000. It is located near to the east side of Australia. People living in Tuvalu basically depend on the local resources for living. Each household must own a canoe for fishing. It is heart wrenching to know that the Tuvalu is getting more floods and droughts as the years come by. They were hit by a cyclone last year and it was the second time being affected by a huge wave. Local communities, especially the youth are taking actions to voice up their concern. The Prime Minister of Tuvalu and respective delegations will be attending COP21. The fear for losing livelihood for the future generation has forced local communities to find a new HOME. The speaker highlighted that should you become a leader for the climate movement, please help to protect Tuvalu.
Learnt
Youth of East Asia Action Agenda (YEAAA): The participants selected five topics that are concerned with the impact of climate change.
Poverty: A lot of consequences of climate change lead to poverty.
Haze: East Asia such as Malaysia and China are facing this issue. The consequences of global warming worsen the haze situation.
Destruction of Ecosystem: Lost of species.
Rise of Sea Level: Islands are most vulnerable.
Economy: The countries which suffer from climate change face poverty, lack of food security, etc.
Guest speaker from Tuvalu : Learnt about how an island such as Tuvalu is struggling for the survival of their people.
CLIMATE: Make it work!. Watched the documentary flim from a COP simulation in Paris to rethink climate negotiations. Carolin shared her experience on how 200 students in her university mimicking the process of Conference of Parties. The negotiation process is tough at the beginning. It is time consuming, tiring, complicated and tough process. It is a remarkable achievement to finally getting everyone to agree on the text and reaching an agreement.
All COYs’ Round Table Session – Meeting with COY from Brazil, France, Indonesia and Canada through Google Hangout. It was great to know youth from other parts of country are concern about climate change issue.
Goal – Yes. I am achieving my first goal to meet East Asia youth who might be the leaders of tomorrow.
Date: Thursday, 26th November 2015
Time: 22:13
Author: Loh Rachel, 18 (Selangor, Malaysia)
Current location: Yoyogi Olympics Memorial Youth Center (Tokyo, Japan)
First things first, hello! I’m Loh Rachel from the Malaysian Youth Delegation (MYD15) and am currently attending the Conference of Youths on Climate Change (COY11) in Tokyo! Feel free to ask me about COY11, MYD or anything at all through my social media networks.
So, I mustered a little courage today and spoke up during the roundtable discussion where we connected (via Skype) with all the COY conferences across the world in Brazil, India, Canada and France, to name a few. I was definitely nervous represent the youth voices of COY 11 Tokyo, but I am so glad I did! I always seem to have a problem voicing out my opinions to a large audience, afraid of their judgements, but I have learnt that we all deserve a voice and if you don’t speak up when necessary- you. Will. Regret. It.
Me speaking to youths at COY 11 in 8 countries across the globe!
One of the best parts of my day was producing part one my group’s discussion during the “Youth of East Asia Action Agenda” (YEAAA) session. We collectively decided on the topic of Haze in East Asia, while others concluded on various topics such as conservation of biodiversity, poverty, the rise in sea levels, etc. My group was positively charged with energy. From tackling the causes of the haze to delving deep into the consequences and its relevance to climate change, we achieved A LOT during that session. Wooohoooo, go productivity! We’re ready for part two where we will talk about solutions and the logistics of incorporating this pertinent issue in our COY11 Tokyo manifesto.
Team “WE HATE HAZE” with their poster.
Second best part of the day was when the MYD group consisting of Ginger, Sze Ming and me going out for a stroll to the Meiji Shrine! We witnessed the mesmerising beauty of the fall colours merging with the traditional Japanese architecture. It was so beautiful that we decided to walk there every morning.
The Malaysian Youth Delegation (#MYD15) at the Meiji Shrine!
So, aside from learning a few Japanese phrases (e.g. Mataashita : see you tomorrow), I’ve learnt more about the negotiation process in COP21 through a film called “Make It Work” by Theatre de l’air, where students from various universities around the world experienced a COP simulation and ended up negotiating as representatives of entities (e.g. Soil) instead of the usual format (i.e. Countries). The documentary provided a wonderful insight to the harsh reality of the negotiating process in COP.
Lastly, my goal for attending COY11 is to establish a network with like minded people who are passionate about climate change and the environment, learn more about climate change and how youths can or should be involved, and make sure our voices are heard by world leaders in time for COP21. And today, though I didn’t achieve the first goal as I believe it takes time to foster strong bonds of friendship, I believe I will achieve it in the long run. As for the latter, I strongly believe we as youths achieved that today and I hope we can continue to keep this energy as we proceed with the next two days!
Domo arigatou once again to Air Asia for sponsoring our flights! I’ll be posting daily updates, so please stay tuned. 🙂
Highlight
