{"id":543953,"date":"2010-04-26T18:02:00","date_gmt":"2010-04-26T22:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16432059.post-8378540425945867564"},"modified":"2010-04-27T00:09:59","modified_gmt":"2010-04-27T04:09:59","slug":"climate-leadership-cuts-across-generations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/543953","title":{"rendered":"Climate Leadership Cuts Across Generations"},"content":{"rendered":"


A couple weeks ago, I took the liberty on this blog to write a open letter<\/a> in support of my good friend, Christiana Figueres to be the next Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC. <\/p>\n

While that selection process is ongoing for another couple weeks it appears, it’s been inspiring in its own right to see the grass roots Facebook upwelling for this truly remarkable woman. When everybody from market profiteers to left of left civil society to diplomats and bureaucrats trying to do implausible jobs in impossible situations are all consistently singing your praises, it has to mean something.<\/p>\n

In any event, I was recently passed along a note from one of the creators of that testimonial FB page. I’m taking some liberties and copying it below because its quite inspiring in its own right. Eugene, I look forward to our paths crossing at some point soon – you have a great head on your shoulders.
<\/span><\/p>\n


Eugene Jinyoung Nho<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a college student who, like many others, has long felt
passionate about tackling the climate change problem. To that end, I
have been learning about climate change policy at school and involved
myself in various sustainability initiatives. Last December at COP15,
however, amid much frustration, I realized that as much as my small
contribution might be valuable in the long run, what we needed the
most at this moment to have a realistic shot at solving the climate
crisis was a strong and effective leadership in the UNFCCC that could
bring nations together.<\/p>\n

I chose to start the campaign to reach out to youth and
civil society in support of Chirstiana because I have been truly
inspired by her. There is no question about her incredible
professional achievement and qualifications, but what really inspired
me was the genuine care she showed for youth and civil society. I met
Christiana as a youth delegate at COP15. In the midst of the craziness
of the COP second week, she still spent an hour with students to help
us understand the issues and hear our thoughts. She is the kind of
person who replies to a random student\u2019s email asking about the Clean
Development Mechanism with loads of helpful information and guidance
faster than the student himself. It was after talking with my friends
who received help from her similarly that I realized my case was not
an isolated incident. How far she went to help each of us was
incredible, and I believe it shows her dedication to youth development
and her belief in the significance of a sound civil society.<\/p>\n

The Facebook group in support of Christiana has attracted
almost 2,500 members within a month since its start in mid March.
Hundreds of people have left messages of support, encouragement and
endorsement on the page. As the creator of the page, it was
extraordinary to watch the group grow\u2014reaching out to people from all
walks of life from all corners of the world. Students from the U.S.
and Latin America joined the group at first, but since then, students,
youth activists and civil society members from all around the world
have joined in.<\/p>\n

One particular quote I found inspiring was from a student
at Norwalk Community College. He said, \u201cChristiana\u2019s inspiring talk to
over 400 students energized and mobilized our campus in a way that had
seemed impossible before\u2026 At every step of their struggle to make the
building green, Christiana was there offering astute advice and
support.\u201d This is exactly how my friends and I felt about her enduring
help and support in our research endeavors. It takes true passion and
dedication in the cause of fighting climate change to help people you
barely know on a daily basis, and that is why I find Christiana simply
inspiring.<\/p>\n

The most incredible aspect has been the way this movement reached out
to people around the world like a wild fire. People say the best
innovations don\u2019t need any additional effort to make them work because
those innovations have a way of getting work done themselves. The
youth\/civil society movement to support Christiana happened in a
similar way. The way it spread through different social networks and
across different continents\u2014with little effort from the center\u2014has
been truly remarkable, and I believe it is the testimony to the
respect and hope people have for Christiana.<\/p>\n

Last week, I had a chance to speak with Dr. Nafis Sadik,
whose work in organizing Cairo Conference in 1994 marked a milestone
in the empowerment of women and championing of family planning. I was
curious how she was able to bring nations together to support this
cause despite the existence of strong conservative lobbying forces,
and she replied in one word \u201ccivil society.\u201d Having civil society
present in negotiations and recognizing their role in the process, she
said, kept negotiations on track and moving forward. Having witnessed
the frustration at COP15 in person, I sincerely hope to see the UNFCCC
that recognizes the important role of civil society, and hope that the
civil society\u2019s support for Christiana is heard at the highest ranks
within the UN.<\/p>\n

If you would like to take a look at the Christiana Figueres Facebook group<\/a>, please visit and join

Eugene Jinyoung Nho<\/p>\n

Stanford University, Class of 2010 (senior), major in Economics, minor
in Environmental Engineering. Study focus on climate change and energy
policy.<\/p>\n

Co-founder & Co-executive director of IDEAS, an environmental
non-profit working with college students in the developing world to
tackle environmental\/sustainability problems in their communities.<\/p>\n

Born and raised in Korea.<\/span><\/p>\n

Content provided by and all rights reserved to CleantechBlog.com. Also check out http:\/\/www.cleantech.org<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A couple weeks ago, I took the liberty on this blog to write a open letter in support of my good friend, Christiana Figueres to be the next Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC. While that selection process is ongoing for another couple weeks it appears, it’s been inspiring in its own right to see the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6828,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-543953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6828"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543953\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}