Feature

Seal the Deal

Shahrukh Sadman Kabir

OUR world is now on the verge of destruction because of our very own actions. We stand at the eleventh hour facing an inconvenient truth.

The black seems to take over the blue skies, but even though like an undying fire, hope stays alight. For centuries, mankind has taken this world for granted and remained in denial of its harmful actions. For centuries we have killed bit by bit, this world, which we call mother earth, which has blessed us infinitely but unfortunately we selfish creatures have just repaid the planet with unkindness and notoriety. But as I said hope is always there, no matter how faint it may seem and it just shows us the way to reconciliation and redemption. So some of us are now realizing the mistakes of our forefathers and taking a step towards salvation.

It was with this message that the UNEP TUNZA conference was held in Daejeon, South Korea from 17th to 23rd August. About 700 youth and children activists from over 200 nations gathered to put forward a notion, that the youth of the world has seen enough and will not endure anymore.

Bangladesh was also there, represented by 3 young activists, who shared a common goal, to let the world know that Bangladesh was the most affected from the developed world's actions and demands climate justice. These 3 activists were Shahrukh Sadman Kabir, Arefin Rezaone Sizane and Md. Belal Hossain.

We travelled to Korea, with a heart full of hope and eyes full of dreams that our voices will be heard. Upon landing on South Korea, we were warmly welcomed by the UNEP national committee of South Korea's volunteers who led us to a room where other young activists from around the world were present. This was in Lincheon airport, the largest air hub in the world. From here a bus took the activists to a city, which is 3 hours of drive from Seoul, to the city called Daejeon. Daejeon is the growing tech hub of South Korea and it was going to be the host of the UNEP TUNZA 2009 conference. So after a pleasant 3 hour journey through the freeways of South Korea, we arrived at our destination Chung Nam University, Daejeon, where we were cordially welcomed again by the volunteers and thus began the 4 day long conference. Although we resided at the university's dormitory, which was indeed classy, that was not the venue for the conference; instead it was the beautifully structured Daejeon Convention Center (DCC).

Throughout the 4 days of the conference, the activists participating gave their 110% to prepare a new vision, a statement that reflects the youth's dreams: The Youth Climate Change statement.

The statement is based upon the sole belief that it is high time for taking eminent action against climate change and not just flattery talk. The statement was approved by all activists and was prepared to be sent to the leaders of all nations before COP 15 and it was also to be presented at COP 15. The most memorable parts of the conference were when the South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo came to the conference and promised to the youth that he is going to do everything in his power to battle global warming. This was indeed an inspiration to see a man of such stature to directly get involved with this cause. Apart from this there is another notable achievement that people should know about. Going from Bangladesh we were always on the outlook for an opportunity to let the world know about the climate injustice being done to Bangladesh. And luckily we were successful in making activists from all over the world aware that Bangladesh is a developing country and unluckily also the country to be most affected by global warming. But alas, we are not to blame for destroying this world; it is the developed countries that are to be blamed. Their rapid industrialization in the 1960s and 1970s was the origin of climate change and now when we are starting to feel pronounced deadly blows, they do not own up. This is not what we can term as justice. So we demanded from our fellow activists that they carry our voices back to their homeland and help us, help which me so righteously deserve. And needless to say everyone present in the conference enthusiastically agreed to our logical and yet humanitarian appeal. So we from Bangladesh were promised that our demands would be closely looked into in the upcoming COP 15. Also conclusive proof that Bangladesh had managed to attract everyone's attention was when Arefin Rezoane Sizane was elected for the post of Alternate Youth Advisor from the Asia and Pacific Region.

The conference ended with the note that everyone present there would go back to their homeland with the words: Seal the Deal.

The beauties of these three words are that they carry a meaning, which reflects all mankind's wishes. They are the tagline of the UNEP's campaign leading to COP 15.The words urge global leaders to stop talking and start taking actions and thus in COP 15 in Copenhagen seal a deal which would help reduce carbon emissions drastically. If they can seal the deal then the hope that is left will brighten up infinitely.

On our trip back home, when we were discussing the outcomes of this successful conference, one thing intrigued my mind very much was the fact that will our politicians ensure climate justice for us, or will this cycle go on forever? But one thing is for sure, the war against climate change has begun and the youth will not run away from it. We are here and we are going to save our planet!

As one of my friends say, it takes a village to grow a child but it takes a world to grow a tree. So we all need to come together, it does not matter how small you may be, just remember as long as you love this world you are with us. To support this movement join us at:

www.sealthedeal2009.org,www.timeforclimatejustice.org,
www.350.org and www.planetcall.org

The time for climate justice is now! Share The Dream!

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