COY and COP Update

[Alex Lenferna SEACC SF Chairperson]

Dear Friends and Colleagues, 

As some of you may be aware, I attended a Ministerial Stakeholder Meeting with Civil Society on COP 17/CMP 17, which was chaired by the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), which is the department that is chairing COP 17 - a pretty big task indeed. I was fortunate enough to be given a slot to speak as representative of SEACC SF, BBN and UNFCCC YOUNGO, and had my questions and challenges answered. There was also much valuable information for youth involvement in COP 17 discussed at the meeting. Thus I thought I would share an update with you. 

The first unfortunate update is that things are not looking up for a meaningful global agreement on climate change, but that is a discussion for another time. 

The second update, is that DIRCO is going to be putting me in touch with the Department of Youth and Gender who are supposedly capable of mobilising funds for youth involvement in COP 17, which may help us substantially. There were also many other individuals who took my card and information after my presentation saying they are eager to help our involvement, so hopefully we'll get something on that soon. 

According to the Civil Society Committee on COP 17 (C17) they are in the process of finalising the venue for civil society, which is the Durban University of Technology, and they should let us know if we can use it soon. There will also supposedly be a climate refugee camp set up in Durban where attendees of COP 17 can camp (tents might be provided), so for those on student budgets that is a blessing. For those who would like to live a bit more comfortably, I would advise booking accommodation ASAP if you have not done so already. We should have a youth space within the civil society space for those who would like to use it. I would like to suggest that BlueBuck Network makes use of it. 

For those who have been interested in organising a climate concert, C17 is planning on organising one, and thus rather than duplicating efforts I would suggest collaborating with them. You can contact Desmond D'Sa for more information on: sd...@mail.ngo.za 

For those who have been approached by the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), off the record, I would like to put forward a word of caution. Please proceed cautiously as the NYDA are renowned for a number of things, most famously, corruption, gross misspending, promoting a self-serving agenda, and being a self-enriching stepping stone to corrupt political incumbency. I am not saying do not partner with them, as they have access to vast resources, but beware, among other things, that their agenda doesn't block out your own.  

Finally, although you should all have received this from me or seen these before, for those who haven't, please see attached for information on COY. 

I hope that this helps out with questions some of you may of had. 

Yours in solidarity towards a more just and sustainable future,

Alex

~ Help Fight Climate Change Now: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/carbon/ ~

 

Georges Alexandre (Alex) Lenferna

South East African Climate Consortium Student Forum (SEACC SF)

Chairperson

Rhodes University Student Number: G07L2342

Cell: +72 (0)72 372 4144

Email: sea...@gmail.com

Address: Philosophy Department, Rhodes University,

PO BOX 94, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa.

Website: http://seacc.org.za/projects/17

SEACC SF is a Proud Member of the BlueBuck Network!

(www.bluebucknetwork.org)