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Welcome to Day One of COP15. This morning, we heard from a friend of ours in the Canadian Youth Delegation to Copenhagen, and she shared some great news: “Just wanted to drop a line and say hello from Copenhagen where the weather is gloomy but the mood hopeful. The Hopenhagen posters are ubiquitous and the name "Hopenhagen" is being used in a lot of the speeches given by dignitaries and ministers (Mayor of Copenhagen, Dr. Pachauri, etc). As I come across these hopeful reminders, I can't help but think how amazing it is that a seedling of a thought can blossom into an idea much bigger than itself. I am not sure how Ogilvy Earth is defining ‘success’ but if mood is any indication, I think the Hopenhagen campaign is well on its way.” It’s great to hear that despite an ill-timed email debacle and the usual political equivocating, everything (except the sky) is looking bright in Copenhagen today. I only hope the United Nations delegates have been paying attention to the optimism and are planning to partake. About a year ago, Hopenhagen set out to change the way the world thinks about climate change crisis. The goal was to get away from apocalyptical messages and to start giving global citizens a reason to believe there’s a smarter way forward – one that protects the planet and rebuilds economies all at once. It was never about scaring people into environmental responsibility; it was about asking people to envision a prosperous, sustainable future where natural resources, biodiversity, and smart business were not at odds. We trusted in the fact that such a vision would have magnetism, and that people once united behind it would start a’migrating towards it. I now fear the UN, which boldly accepted this strategy at the outset, may have backtracked. The video they chose to play for the COP15 opening ceremony, which was created by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, lacks a sufficient dose of hope to make up for the shock and awe tactics that were more consistently deployed. Check it out. Did the United Nations lose faith in our approach? Was it decided that urgency - not inspiration - would again be the right message to send at the kick-off of the conference? And desipte backtracking thus, is there still an expectation of different results? Whatever the case, my hope – that the UN’s paradigm can evolve as much as the global citizenry it represents – has been suspended until further notice. But is all hope lost? Never! (I’m yelling that like Churchill would.) The UN delegates still have nine conference days to save themselves from themselves. And regardless of what happens in Copenhagen, I still plan on leading my leaders. There’s good work to be done, and we’ll do it. Go world.
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