How old will you be in 2050? Don’t [bracket] our future.
Blog Post | Blog of Christine Milne
Friday 11th December 2009, 11:37am
by ChristineMilne in
It's intergenerational equity day today here at the Copenhagen climate talks and the Bella Centre is alive with young people wearing Australian designed bright orange t-shirts emblazoned with the slogans "How old will you be in 2050?" and "don't [bracket] our future?"
The slogans are a reference to the grindingly slow and tedious negotiating process of ‘bracketing' controversial text. In global negotiations when there is text that is not agreed by all parties it is put in brackets for negotiation and discussion at a future date. The youth are calling on global leaders to adopt strong emission reduction targets and a just and fair financing mechanism to help with mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.
The Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) is here in force and tracking the negotiations with enthusiasm. It is gratifying to see young Australians engaging so effectively in global negotiations.
Around the Bella centre there are events in which several of the 2000 youth delegates here are drawing attention to the fact that world leaders have been talking and negotiating for 17 years, the age of many of these youth delegates. The youth are telling leaders that their time is up and a legally binding decision to secure their future needs to be made here in Copenhagen.
You can see one of the AYCC flash dances and the bemused reaction of the crowd here.
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Comments
Younger Generation has Incentive to Educate / Skill for Future
In 2050, like most of my generation, Climate Change will definately not be an issue (the temperature of the ground does not change a great deal unless it snows).
For my generation, and the generations before me, technological advances have always found timely solutions to the world problems, including help with nature to reduce populations in countries that either outgrow themselves, or exceed the numbers their area can carry.
Our current younger generation has a great motivation to educate / skill themselves to meet the challenges of the next 40 years, as the existing mature generations worked hard (in most cases) for what they have, and the only way to get their cars, trucks, energy consuming appliances, McMansions, etc, etc, etc, will be to prise the goods from their dead hands.
Sorry this a fact of life, and the same attitude was displayed by my generations parents. The Governments know this, know the electorate, know the impact to them (the Governments) if they try to change a system that has been working for the past 100+ years, by trying to lower the living standards too quickly.
I have great confidence that my children / grand children, will adapt to a changing climate and challenges like my generation had to adapt to major computerisation, water shortages, public transport that sometimes (rarely) is on time, and schools that are currently more interested in teaching politics and the arts than the important subjects like sciences and trades that will be required in the future.
Ah well, that is life.
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