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PLATTSBURGH — Two people with local ties said even though the results were somewhat disappointing, it was exciting to attend the U.N. Climate Change Conference 2009 in Copenhagen.
Dr. Lauren Eastwood, an assistant professor in the Plattsburgh State sociology and criminal justice department, said she has been attending U.N. conferences since 1998, but this was the first climate-change conference she witnessed.
Eastwood said she spent most of her time talking to people engaged in the policy-making process but mainly those not involved in government. She hopes that focus can help show it's not just up to the politicians.
"They (other interest groups) had a lot of concerns about how much was done," she said.
One of the problems was that the approximately 180-page text that was supposed to be the focus of action was replaced with a much simpler and shorter agreement.
"They were supposed to come up with a legally binding document. It came out a couple months ago that was not going to happen," Eastwood said.
The statements from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. President Barack Obama that declared the event a success seemed like attempts to save face, she said, especially in light of the number of people who denounced the conference results due to a lack of specifics and lack of a legally binding agreement.
"In a lot of ways, I think this conference was kind of a setback," Eastwood said.
Kimberly La Reau, a senior sociology major at Ithaca College, is a 2006 graduate of Peru Central School. She was one of 20 Ithaca students who attended the conference.
"I thought it was a little disappointing. The world was counting on something really big coming out of this," she said.
The class conducted public-opinion polls in its exhibit space. La Reau said the opinion was split fairly even when they asked whether a meaningful treaty would result.
La Reau said one surprise was the number and size of the youth movements in Copenhagen. The day after the largest, her group asked if people believed youth would have a positive effect on climate-change policy.
"I believe that one leaned a little more toward the positive," she said.
Many question if the U.N. is the right organization to lead the effort, Eastwood said, as all 192 members must agree to any formal policy.
"That was part of the dynamic at play the last couple weeks," she said. "All these countries jockeyed for position."
That made the end result a sort of lowest common-denominator agreement, Eastwood said.
There was tremendous support for change, Eastwood said, as about 45,000 people registered, even though there was only room for about 15,000 in the Bella Center. There were a large number of parallel events outside where they could voice their concerns.
Even though the end result was disappointing, La Reau said she enjoyed the opportunity.
"It was definitely an experience I will always treasure. I want to continue to work to fight for environmental justice. I don't know if I'll ever completely lose hope."
The next U.N. climate change meetings are scheduled for next year in Mexico.
E-mail Dan Heath at: dheath@pressrepublican.com
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