If we are lucky and attentive, our four years in higher education should leave us with the ability to handle all the greatest challenges our world can throw at our generation. But perhaps the hardest and most important skill to master as an environmentalist is how to look squarely at the bald facts describing our situation, and not fall into a pit of despair. The resilient humor and persistence necessary to make a career in environmentalism or just to live a sustainable life is largely a self-taught skill.
Two weeks ago, it was announced that a legally-binding agreement, the goal environmentalists around the world have pursued for years, will again be delayed another year. Listening to my classmates’ frustration that week only made my own despair seem larger, darker, and more pressing.
What would a “successful” Copenhagen conference entail? If a legally-binding agreement is off the table, what will it take for us to walk away from these negotiations with fuel for our hope? What will it take on a political level? A demonstration of powerful leadership from countries already pulling their weight in addressing climate change? A commitment from India and/or China to higher emissions cutbacks than we expected? What smaller victories can we pull from the political sphere?
What about on a personal level, the things we can control? Maybe I’ll make a point to ask all the European youth delegates how recycling is taught at their universities. Maybe I’ll end up with new friendships, or new ideas for projects and changes to be shared at home. Maybe it’ll be enough just to see first-hand that there are other people my age out there who are more concerned about Clean Development Mechanisms than a laundry quota.
My intention is not to lower our expectations of Copenhagen, nor give the illusion that it is acceptable to continue delaying the hard, inevitable political and economic choices. Every delay makes our future work harder. But for my own sanity, and because this is the way, in the end, projects get done and environmentalism will work, we all should ask ourselves this before we leave for Copenhagen: “what is it I can do to pull some purpose out of this conference? What will leave me feeling that I accomplished something, however small?”
