On Monday morning, negotiators from around the world poured
into the Qatar National Conference Center for the first day of the COP18 United
Nations Climate Talks, prepared for a long day of speeches on the technical
details of multilateral environmental diplomacy. However, as they travelled down
the moving walkway between security and the plenary hall they were confronted
with the human face of climate change.’
Young people from around the world had flanked the walkway
holding signs in multiple languages that reminded negotiators of the terrifying
consequences that runaway greenhouse gas emissions have already begun imposing
on people and the planet; droughts, hurricanes, wildfires, desertification,
rising seas, biodiversity loss, and more.
At the bottom of each sign the youth posed the question “Will This Be
Your #ClimateLegacy?”
