Hanna is participating at the UNFCCC COP13 in Bali this week, and is sharing her views of the negotiations taking place:
Hello! 10 December (Monday)
Today was the D-day, the day for the press conference! I was really nervous when I woke up at half past 6. We left the hotel at about twenty past 8 and took a taxi to the BICC (Bali International Conference Centre). Well there, everybody soon spread out to practice their press statements. We all wanted to know them so well that we could seem as secure as possible up on the stage (I think I practised it about 7 times myself…).
Then came finally the time to start. When we were all set in our chairs, Hope began introducing us. By then I had became so nervous I was shivering and praying to any available god/saint/power that no-one would notice it. My turn to speak came. And went just as fast. I’d survived!!! Though, journalists asked a few strange questions, but luckily enough we didn’t have time to answer them all.
Afterwards, we were all chased down by about 3 journalists each who interviewed us in different ways, I was interviewed by a reporter from the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet (Swedish Daily News) which was quite good because that’s a big, serious paper back home. It wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be, very relaxed actually. They were really good at making you feel confident about yourself, which was needed!
All I could feel after this was relief. Relief over that it was over, relief over that I didn’t make any mistakes.
Today was also, unfortunately, the day to say goodbye to Thomas and Lucy. They are leaving on Tuesday, 11/12, which is very sad. I’ll miss them.
So, we gathered on a wonderful restaurant on the beach. The view was inexplicably beautiful! After running a bit by the water (we all got soaked by the high waves), we formed a circle to thank each other for the week. Thomas decided he wanted to say something specific about every one of us; I got “very lady-like…and very laid-back” which I thought was really funny.
When we came back to the hotel, I and Sara joined up with Lucy and Thomas to have a last doughnut together, a very nice, but also sad goodbye. I hope we’ll meet again!
I fell asleep with the thought that this was the best day so far, despite the nervousness and sadness.
Tomorrow will be the last day for the rest of us, but more about that then…
/Hanna
Hai! 9th December (Sunday)
Today was our day off from the conference. Anto had made up a schedule for us to go to many different parts of the island and see many things (so far, we’ve only seen the hotel and the conference centre…).
The first stop was a traditional Balinese market. We split up into groups and made sure that every group contained someone that knew how to bargain so that we wouldn’t get swindled. I and Sara spent the first 30 minutes wandering around quietly, not wanting to be approached by any salesperson. It was all so very different from our European shopping habit, we were actually quite frightened… But soon the inhibitions loosened and we bought some things for our friends at home.
We then went to a lovely restaurant called Bebek Bengil (The Dirty Duck). Most of us had duck which was really good. After photographing almost everything, the mini-coaches came to get us to the next event; the monkey forest!
We all got a couple of bananas to give to the little creatures, which turned out to be quite scary (with nasty, big, pointy teeth). I was even chased by one, I had a banana in my hand, which jumped at me and tried to take it. That was a bit traumatic and I accidentally screamed. Really embarrassing. We then stopped and sat down to play some friend-games beneath a gigantic tree that must have been hundreds of years old. It was very hot sitting still for so long, but it was nice.
The last visit was to Tanah Lot, a temple on a little island a bit out in the sea. Though we didn’t actually go out to it, we stayed on the shore. But that was enough. The sunset was amazing!
We were supposed to have dinner after that, but we were all so tired we just went back to the hotel. A lovely (and well-needed) day!
Love
/Hanna
Hej! 8th December (Saturday)
The day didn’t start too well. I woke up with a terrible stomach ache, had problems with eating breakfast and had to go back to bed while the others were working on their blogs. It seemed like I needed to sleep – I slept until lunch time!
We then went to a really nice place called the Lucky Duck to eat. It was relaxing and gave me a chance to talk to the other youths. I gave them all a t-shirt with the name of my college on it. It was a great idea to bring them since they got so happy.
In the afternoon we went to a small film festival as a side event. Thomas (from the U.K.) had produced a DVD for the competition as well as the runner up. We had to sit in front of the audience. I was so nervous! But it went really well, I even made everyone laugh (though unintentionally)!
I felt so relaxed afterwards. Performing wasn’t too bad after all. Now I’m much more confident and less nervous about the press conference on Monday. I think I can make it!
Love
/Hanna
Hello Sweden! 7 December (Thursday)
Hej! Today has been an intense day. We children formed a group to discuss the consequences of climate change for children in each country represented. I can just admit that Swedish children will not be as affected as the ones in the developing countries… Except for rising sea levels and less snow in the winters I think that Sweden will do just fine. In the afternoon we met a great challenge: to interview persons at the Bali International Conference Centre, where the COP is hosted. It was hard work to approach foreign adult persons that you never spoken to before! But I did it! I talked to the organization Women in Europe for a Common Future about bringing in children into important decision making processes and they (she) thought it was a great idea. She worked with promoting renewable energy resources and to prevent countries from using nuclear energy. Since women and children are extra sensitive to nuclear radiation. I also talked to the SEI, the Swedish Environmental Institute that are trying to build a bridge between research and politics. They have lots of issues on their agenda, like energy and water. She thought it was important to have present in processes like the COP. “Children are often forgotten”, was one of her comments. Her suggestions was e.g. a side event with and for children and maybe a forum that is in indirect contact with the government will increase the understanding for involving children in these processes. Busy, busy, straight after the interviews I zoomed off to a media briefing with the Swedish negotiators. It was really interesting! I learned that the negotiations are going ok. Since Australia signed the Kyoto Protocol the US has really changed their attitude. They admitted that it is a total different feeling at the negotiations now. One problem still remaining is that the OPEC-countries are trying their hardest to make their voice heard. They want to have some sort of economic support or plan for not selling oil… A hard nut to crack! But I’m sure all the smart negotiators can come up with something – the have another energy resource to sell, the sun! After the Swedish meeting we were invited to a cocktail party by the Indonesian President! The food was great! Best Wishes, Hanna
December 6th, 2007 (Wednesday)
Today was my first day at the Bali Conference. I’ve met the other youths and we’ve started to get to know each other. They all seem really nice! We have quite different views on climate change though. I’ve understood that we in Sweden have a relatively global vision on the problem, probably because we won’t be effected very much of it. The others think more locally which will make the discussions interesting. We haven’t actually begun with all our given tasks, but mostly gone through the goals UN have for the coming weeks and for what we are doing. The only relevant point on today’s programme was a session about the effect of climate change on poverty. Unfortunately I was so jet-lagged that I had a hard time listening. Later tonight we are attending a session of all the youth organisations in the conference. It’s going to be really interesting! Just hope I can stay awake this time… ‘til next time… //Hanna
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