A moving candelit vigil led by Mary Robinson and Desmond Tutu (Dec 12th)
Beyond the official open and closed door negotiation sessions and expert led side events there are other more inspiring events. One such was a a candlelit vigil that was part of a global vigil call for peace held on December 12th just outside of the Bella Center (freezing it was).
Tutu arrived in all of his cuteness and said, "You beautiful , wonderful young generation. We the oldies want to leave you a beautiful world. It is a matter of morality. It is a question of justice (huge laugh). If you are responsible for the mess then you are responsible for getting rid of the mess. That is justice." "If you are able to bail out the banks, please just give us a few billion to enable the poor, to enable the poor to use alternative fuels. They can't do it if you ask them to pay for it. Please for your own sake, rich people for the sake of our world, be nice and pay up. We the world expects a real deal." Bye, Bye.
Yesterday Tutu handed a petition to Yvo De Boeur with over half a million signatures, calling for a "fair, effective and binding climate deal.
Campaigners and experts say a real deal on climate is: a) Fair - $200 Billion in climate financing for poorer countries. b) Ambitious - a 2015 peak year for carbon emissions and a safe carbon level of 350 parts per million in the atmosphere. c) Binding - legally enforceable.
Ciara Shannon
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