Activists shine light on issues getting short shrift inside Copenhagen climate negotiations

The scene outside the global climate talks in Copenhagen is a cornucopia of innovative artwork, inspiring panel discussions and provocative characters with fascinating stories to tell, the InvestigateWest team reports.

In fact, there were so many interesting events and people that the sheer number made it hard to focus on any one today, InvestigateWest correspondent Alexander Kelly told me by Skype just now.

But he’s focused enough to know that he will be doing a piece on the critique of cap-and-trade, which many economists and politicians promote but which many environmentalists in Copenhagen this week oppose.

And he’s considering writing about ocean acidification, which is a big concern to the maritime community of the Pacific Northwest.

Folks -- are there climate-related topics you’d like to hear about that probably are being discussed in Copenhagen? Let us know. (rmcclure(at)invw.org or akelly(at)invw.org.)

Right now our team members are trying to make contact with people in Copenhagen who have a window on the world of climate change that will prove interesting to you, our readers.

To give you an idea of the kinds of discussions going on outside the actual negotiating sessions, today Alex caught a snatch of a panel entitled “Building Community Resilience to Climate Change Through Food Sovereignty and Ecological Agriculture.” That’s a topic close to the heart of the many locavores in the Pacific Northwest, no doubt.

That food isssue is one of many being discussed in forums like the People’s Climate Summit. In them, activists are trying to focus public attention on issues receiving insufficient attention among negotiators, observers and journalists inside the climate talks at Copenhagen’s Bella Center.

The InvestigateWest team also checked out an art exhibit that attempted to show how climate change is likely to have a disproportionate impact on women. One example: An artist created likenesses of pregnant womens' abdomens, colored like wood. The story in that part of the world is that climate change has caused wells to dry up. So villagers have to walk four hours to the nearest water source. And in many parts of Africa, getting the water is women’s work.

And later this week a “summit to save the Himalayas” will feature sherpas and climbers who have summited Mount Everest. The issue in the world’s tallest mountains, of course, is that the glaciers that make agriculture possible across much of China and India are melting. What will happen if the Chinese and Indians can't practice irrigated agriculture, and go wanting for food? We touched on that a few weeks ago, but we may learn more later this week.

Stay tuned for some important critiques about how the world is gearing up to head off the worst effects of climate change.

–  Robert McClure