In a word, they aren’t. The flood and its survivors are being given almost no attention by the UN and delegates at the conference, and the people have received next to no assistance from the municipal government.

Now, in the final hours of negotiations, as COP17 draws to a close, it is unlikely that any sort of climate treaty will be agreed upon that meets the needs of the most impacted. In addition, it remains to be seen whether the Green Climate Fund, the singular high hope of many most impacted countries in desperate need of funding for adaptation measures, will be approved and launched.

Despite this incredible disappointment, many youth, NGO’s, and members of civil society are dedicated to offering what relief they can – and have launched a campaign facilitated through 350.org, with all funds going directly to the KwaMashu community. They hope to show the victims of the flash floods that despite the appearance of being ignored, there are people at these negotiations who truly understand that for many, climate change means survival or death.

This is also, as it happens, a unique opportunity to shine a light on developed countries’ inaction on pledging tangible resources for immediate adaptation, and that the United States and Saudi Arabia are holding up the one measure with potential to truly help peoples most impacted the world over (The Green Climate Fund).

As the global climate continues to warm, sudden, heavy downpours are expected to increase across South Africa, adding to the growing global tally of climate casualties. This isn’t the first not-so-funny coincidence of a climate-related “natural” disaster striking during a climate conference, and it certainly won’t be the last.

SUN COME UP
The Oscar-nominated film Sun Come Up follows the relocation of the Carteret Islanders, a peaceful community in the South Pacific, and now, some of the world’s first environmental refugees.

‘Sun Come Up’ is launching a House Raiser campaign to build off the momentum of the Oscar nomination: 50 parties in 50 different homes. Each home commits to raising funds for the Carteret Islanders by February 27th, the date of the Academy Awards! All donations will go directly to the Carteret Islanders’ relocation program toward the building of new homes. Learn more!

Click here to sign up and feel free to email bleyer@gmail.com with any questions. You can also spread the word to your network by posting their widget on Facebook: http://www.call2action.com/widget/w673.

SUMMER OF SOLUTIONS
Applications have opened to join the Summer of Solutions this year. As an emerging leader in youth empowerment and green economic development, Summer of Solutions is opening up the opportunity to creative, dedicated young people who believe in improving their communities, advancing social justice, and improving the environment.

During the course of a summer, youth are able to design, receive support for, and help implement solutions in their communities. Summer of Solutions programs work in collaboration with community partners to create self-sustaining green economy projects that will continue to have a direct positive impact.In just three years, the Summer of Solutions program has expanded from a single site in Saint Paul, MN, and a partner program in Portland, OR, to fifteen programs across the country.

They welcome all participants ages 14-30 regardless of race, culture, class, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. Positions as volunteer participants (up to 20 hours a week) and full-time participants (40+ hours a week) are open. The program is free, and full-time participants are eligible to receive need-based financial support, the application for which is here. SoS is currently working to generate funding to support participants with all levels of need.

To learn more about Summer of Solutions and find a program, visit Grand Aspirations, the host organization of Summer of Solutions, or apply directly here.  The priority deadline for full-time applicants is Sunday, March 13th at midnight PST, and the final deadline for full-time applicants is Sunday April 24th at midnight PST. Volunteer applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

SoS looks forward to receiving your application, and working together, hands-on, to create stronger, self-sustaining communities across the country.

APPLY NOW!

A little more about the workshop:

Generations Ahead: A new legion of eco-activists shares about how
 leadership is inspired, activated and sustained.
 What are the specific elements that drive new generations of young leaders 
to find their paths and galvanize others to take action to create a more
 sustainable world? Join some inspiring emerging leaders at the forefront of
 environmental and social change movements for a lively conversation.

The Bioneers conference will be in San Rafael, CA, from October 15-17, with intensives on October 14 and 18. Project Survival Media will be tabling at our booth, showing videos, selling T-shirts, and helping Bioneers to document the conference through video. So stop by and say “hi”!

PSM members who register for Bioneers will receive a 10% discount. Go to http://www.bioneers.org/conference to register, and use the coupon code ACE10. If you would like to become a PSM/ Earth Island Institute member, please make a donation of $25 or greater using our easy online donation form, or contact Madeline.

We are very excited for the event, and hope to see you there!

Canada’s federal target is 3 per cent below 1990′s level by 2020, equivalent to 20 per cent less than 2006′s level, a target wholly inadequate to address the demands of science and justice that the climate crisis now presents. I am sad to say that Canada has also failed to take a leading role at the talks, instead actually presenting one of the major roadblocks to a fair and legally binding deal. (And all of this is not to mention the public shaming the Canadian delegation received at the hands of the Yes Men).

Why is my government’s performance so troublesome to me? Having spent two weeks in the Arctic this summer, I experienced the land, so far distanced from the stereotypical images of the Arctic I had imagined pre-expedition. The image of snow, ice and polar bears is one of rapid decline. With frightening predictions that polar ice will be non-existent within 30 years, this is no longer an issue we can ignore.

On my expedition this summer, the drastic changes occurring in the North became particularly evident during our hike to the Arctic Circle through Auyuittuq National Park – which means “the land that never melts” – (near Pangnirtung). I had mentally prepared myself for snow, ice and freezing temperatures. Although we crossed frozen rivers that were run-off from the glaciers we could barely see at the tops of mountains, this was as close to snow as we could get.

Seeing this beautiful but so unexpected land was a huge wake-up call. Getting sunburned swimming at the Arctic Circle was my breaking point. How can we continue to watch our world melt away? Having talked to the Elders and the children in Pangnirtung, we saw the unbearable effects of climate change, and could see how climate change is no longer just an environmental issue but also an issue of a way of life, of traditions and of culture.

Canada is known as a promoter of cultures, a peaceful and welcoming country, but with our government’s unwillingness to protect its own citizens, can we still live up to this reputation? The people of the North play such a vital role in our country and we should be taking what’s happening in the poles as a warning beacon as to what will happen in the rest of the world.

Enter the media. No one can be everywhere at once, so there are people whose job it is to go collect stories, verify them by checking a second source, and then paint a picture for the folks back home. People rely on the media to keep them informed about what’s going on in the world. And while the media can’t capture every detail, while there will unavoidably be some omissions and differences in emphasis, as reporters, it is part of our job to tell the whole story, and to pick out the wheat from the chaff.

This is why the coverage so far of the December 12 march in Copenhagen, Denmark is so disappointing to me. During the event, I was working in downtown Copenhagen alongside Tcktcktck, 350.og, and Avaaz staff, collecting photos and videos coming in from actions all over the world. Behind me, a huge 2 by 5 foot screen showed local TV coverage of the march.

I was inside a media hub, surrounded by information, and the positive messages that kept flooding in. But until I heard verbal accounts from marchers and observers, and saw the footage that Ekta Kothari, Project Survival Media videographer, had shot during the day, I assumed that this particular action, the march in Copenhagen, had been pretty scary. Most of it wasn’t.

Upon her arrival in from the cold, Ms. Kothari, put it this way, “Honestly, since I was much ahead of the arrests, for me it was just a very powerful moment, like one of those which usually make history. It’s a real shame that despite such a magnanimous effort, the media can only focus on the downside of events!”

So, let’s take a moment and focus on the event itself. In order to motivate between nearly 100,000 people to walk for over three hours in the frigid streets of Copenhagen, Parliament Square to the Bella Center, (the location of the climate talks), the message must have been pretty powerful. It was: Marchers were calling for an agreement on climate change that recognizes what the science is telling us: We need to get back down to 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to avoid critical warming feedbacks, and to ensure a livable planet. Marchers were also calling on our political leaders to fulfill their duty and pen a climate treaty that reflects scientific targets, and takes the aggressive action that we know we need.

The march was one of over 3,000 events around the world, from marches to candlelight vigils to the pealing of church bells.

At various stops along the way and at the Bella Center, marchers got to hear from an awesome succession of environmental and climate leaders, including: Marina Silva, former Brazil Environment Minister who, along with rubber tapper leader Chico Mendes, formed the independent trade union in the state of Acre; Vandana Shiva, physicist, philosopher, environmentalist, and one of the leaders of the International Forum on Globalization; and youth climate organizer Deepa Gupta, who helped lead the effort to bring 160 youth from the global south to the climate talks.

The positive energy around the march and the speeches was overwhelming, and those who where there came away with a sense that they had just been part of a great moment in this movement, and in our planet’s history.

Yes, arrests happened. Yes, it’s important to mention that. Arrests are sexy, and it’s okay to maybe even give them a bit more attention than they deserve. But the main story was that hundreds of thousands of peaceful walkers showed united support for a solution to climate change. That this message is quickly being drowned out is worrisome.

As a young person, I am determined to share the positive side of this day’s events. My generation cannot afford the continuation of a polarizing conversation around climate change, based on selective and sensationalist media coverage.

Youth need the world to hear the core message: There were millions of people this weekend who stood up and declared their support for a ‘real deal’ that adheres to scientific targets, to come out of these talks. And, encouragingly, they are ready to take positive action, and demanding the same from our world leaders.

With that, I am so appreciative of this video by Ms. Kothuri, which shows us sitting at home what the march was like to tens of thousands of people.

Project Survival Media is jumping straight into production, completing our mini-documentaries, writing stories of youth activity and survival at COP, and also stories of survival from back home. Our team of 18 youth journalists here are the conference are collaborating with each other, covering youth activities and stories of survival. We are also forming partnerships to share our stories, and are contributing to a number of different online and offline outlets. We are using our collaboratively produced media and united, global messaging to inject the frame of survival into the dialogue surrounding the negotiations.

As the negotiations move into specifics, and real deals start to be made, thinking about survival reminds us that climate changes is a human issue. It is so important to remember that real people’s lives and livelihoods are being affected, and we need real, tangible, human stories to connect with negotiators and with audiences back home. So stay tuned for youth-produced mini-documentaries, photographs, and stories of survival.