Youth Delegations Ejected from COP16

[FluxRostrum]

Run time: 07:04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQbt2-xiBTw   Posted on YouTube: December 11, 2010 By YouTube Member: glassbeadian Views on YouTube: 21   Posted on DU: December 11, 2010 By DU Member: FluxRostrum Views on DU: 322

 
December 10, 2010
Cancun, Mexico

As the final negotiating sessions unfolded, youth from around the world lined the front of the Moon Palace conference center in a final appeal for a science-based target of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C in any agreements coming out the Cancun negotiations.

In front of a banner displaying ‘Climate Justice Delayed is Justice Denied’, they tried to count to 21,000, which according to Oxfam, represents the deaths resulting from climate-related disasters in the first nine months of 2010.

‘Climate justice means ensuring a sustainable future for communities and the ecosystem around the world,’ said Carra Cheslin a youth climate activist from the U.S. ‘It is imperative to protect vulnerable and underrepresented peoples who suffer from the harshest consequence of our climate crisis.’

As delegates from around the world inside the hall were praising the administrators of the conference for running a tight ship, UN security started to forcibly load the youth delegates onto a bus to remove them from the conference center.

After the protest was forcibly put down by UN security, Kumi Naidoo, Chair of the Global Campaign for Climate Action (GCCA) said:

"There is deep concern that the challenge and urgency to take action on climate change contrasts with the pace of negotiations. Both Civil Society and young people have consistently stood with the United Nations recognising that it is governments inside the process who are responsible for blocking progress. After two weeks of difficult negotations, I fully understand the anxiety of youth taking part in tonight's event. Their future is at stake, as are the lives and well-being of millions of people around the world already suffering the impacts of climate change. This peaceful activity was intended to remind delegates of their responsibilities as this conference comes to a close. Bearing this in mind, the response from UN security seemed excessive."

An accredited press photographer attempting to document the event had a confrontation with UN Security. The photographer was forcefully pushed onto the bus by multiple security personnel as other press supported his right to freely document the events taking place.

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