Hi, Wend! My name is Madeline Kovacs, and like the 2,000 + youth who are expected to actively participate in the COP 15 UN Climate Negotiations in Copenhagen in three days, I believe that my future is on the line.
Young people today are uniting across nations, cultures and backgrounds like never before to sound one message: We need fair, aggressive, and legally binding agreements to bring our emissions back down to levels that ensure our ability to survive and to thrive on this planet.
I work with Shadia Fayne Wood coordinating Project Survival Media, the 2009 international program of Fired Up Media. Our goal is simple: We are a group of 93 youth from every continent who are using photography, blogs, and mini-documentaries to bring the voices of the people most impacted by climate change straight to the negotiating table, breathing life into the statistics of the climate crisis.
We will be reporting back for Wend on critical negotiation developments through the end of December, and will also be sharing the stories that we have collected over the past few months. There will be so much to cover: Candlelight vigils, international youth meetings, and events like the Conference of Youth. It’s very exciting to be here, and to be surrounded by these amazing leaders. Now, off to document!
