Mr. P. Bear for the Day
Razceljan - SG Philippines
December 3, 2007
The weather reports: Bali 30ºC.
In the kind of tropical temperature, what can a polar bear do? I hear you saying, “sweat like hell!”
Yes! I just did “sweat like hell” early today in time of the opening of the 13th UN Climate Change Conference and the 3rd Meeting of the Parties – a crucial period of negotiation for the planet’s future and a good opportunity to strengthen and make Kyoto Protocol strong.
We, the SolarGeneration youth, are watching the sessions with faith and hope that we can achieve “a future where clean, renewable energy is the key” for a sustainable and peaceful living.
It was completely a different experience to be inside the polar bear suit. It even made me wonder how a “real polar bear” can survive the sweltering heat of Bali – one of the most threatened islands in the world just like the rest of the islands in my country, the Philippines.
From my vantage point, the Greenpeace family, some UN officials, the country delegates, the paparazzi and media people were standing and swarming a few meters right in front of me with the BIG surprise right beside me – a huge object standing 6.7 meters in height. The rest of the SolarGeneration youth from different countries, Hong (China), Woon (Thailand), Ivy and Christy (Indonesia), Augustin (France), Andres (Switzerland), and Janine (Germany) were on the sides of the object as well.
Flashes of cameras were in pyroclastic-mode as I started doing the P-Bear performance art – waving, shaking my head, etc. Few minutes later, the Climate and Energy head of Greenpeace International, Gavin Edwards, delivered a statement to the press – the realities of the worsening climate change and shared a solution through the Energy [R]evolution and by stopping deforestation.
Right after his short, yet very hard-hitting statement, P-Bear – a name coined to me – and three of my SolarFriends pulled the string and unveiled the hidden objet right into the eyes of everybody. I think it’s the world’s biggest thermometer in fierce red-orange-yellow hue placed right on top of the ‘burning planet’. The thermometer’s gauge was numbered from 1º C to 5ºC. The 2ºC was marked reminding the negotiators and the global community that “keeping global temperature rise below 2˚C is still possible.”
The monumental thermometer will surely become an icon in the whole duration of the conference to remind the negotiators, as the Greenpeace banner states: “Don’t Cook the Climate!”
* * *
While waiting for lunch with the group, I met my friend Ben Namakin from Micronesia who will be presenting in one of the side events the experience of climate change impact in small island nations in the Pacific. He also gave the breaking news about Australia signing the Kyoto Protocol – as promised by Australia’s new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Australia is not getting “rude”this time.
* * *
Later in the afternoon, we had a briefing with the whole SolarGeneration team with Abigail Jabines, GPSEA Climate and Energy campaigner; Agnes de Rooij, campaigner from GP-International; and Clementine Thierry, SolarGeneration International coordinator. They provided insights of how the events unfold and highlighted the important messages that we have to decipher in case the media would ask for interviews, which had been done several times with the SG delegates.
An in-depth info-sharing was given to us by Sven Teske, the “father of SolarGeneration”. He made us understand the concept of the Energy [R]evolution that Greenpeace and SolarGeneration advocate. He was joined by Shai, a GP campaigner from India, who made it clear for us how the organization campaign for both the clean, renewable energy and to “stop deforestation”.
We left the Bali International Convention Center at past 6P.M. on a bus to the guest house. The sky was in deep hues of purple and orange. Some of the passengers were taking a nap, while others were in conversations. I was in my own time listening to the jazzy tune of Norah Jones’ “Sunrise” – a reminder for another day of action in the tropical island – a haven to surfers, backpackers, divers, but not to a wandering P-Bear like me.
Some links of P-Bear:
http://fr.news.yahoo.com/ap/20071203/img/pwl-bali-climate-conference-18e7becd8b260.html
http://blogs.reuters.com/environment/2007/12/03/balis-hottest-job-sweltering-in-a-polar-bear-suit/