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December 16th. 10 days of COP15. Experts say that obtaining an agreement in the “What we should do as a global community to tackle global warming” category would be an excellent result from the Copenhagen Conference. I don’t have too many doubts that this is achievable. World leaders couldn’t ask for a better backdrop to historic international accord; Copenhagen is not just an extremely beautiful city (I’ve been there just once, but with that single visit I was tremendously impressed by it), it’s the perfect idea & solution greenhouse, thanks to ample inspiration from the Danish people and their “sustainable mentality.” But as we have read in the last days, it hasn’t all been rainbows and mermaids. Conversations and negotiations have been getting downright stormy. Yvo de Boer, the UN’s top climate official, said today, “The next 24 hours are absolutely crucial.” “No one said bringing all the world's countries together to hash out a deal -- or really, the foundations of a deal -- would be easy... but, does it have to be this hard?” writes Alex Pasternack in Treehugger.com. This last reflection made me think, and I arrived to the conclusion that nope, I don’t think it is THAT hard. We have, as a global community, agreed on many things in the past in the quest for some greater good. And one (excellent) example of this is the Olympics. So I thought that learning from our success in other areas of international cooperation could perhaps help us to achieve success on sustainability terrain. OLYMPICS LEARNING #1: WORKING AS ONE Good sportsmanship, fair play, respect for fellow athletes and working peacefully together in competition toward common goals are what the Olympics promote. Concepts that go beyond races, religions, and nationalities. At the Olympics you could see in the same stadium Jesse Owens and Hitler, or even the US and the USSR in the middle of the Cold War. No matter how extreme the national antagonism, each nation’s representatives were fighting for the same objective: human achievement through sports. If we could make that happen against (what I think) were much more complicated political backdrops and clashes of visions, I’m sure we can come together today regarding sustainability. OLYMPICS LEARNING #2: DEVELOPING MORE THAN JUST A NEW ECONOMY Ok, let’s say that we obtain the “what to do about climate change” answers in Copenhagen. Well, what comes after that “what”? As it has been said, COP16 will be held in Mexico, and here we will have to close the lopp with the “hows,” i.e. what the “‘whats” (hopefully) agreed in Copenhagen have opened the door to. So my question is: Is Mexico prepared to face that responsibility? Can we as Mexicans inspire solutions just as Danish people have done? Being a Mexican and living in one of the most polluted cities in the world, I can’t deny that I have some doubts, but I can truly say that my heart is always in a glass-half-full mode. And I also can’t deny that it would be an honor to see Mexico (as a developing country representative) play a major role in solving one of the major challenges that civilization has faced. So what to do? How to inspire the world? Well, I continue to find instruction in the Olympics case. Just as countries prepare to receive people around the world when organizing the Olympics, like developing all sorts of infrastructure (new stadiums, villas, roads, hotels, public transportation, etc, etc, etc.), couldn’t we do the same for COP16? Can we hurry and pressure ourselves to create more green jobs? Plan new wind farms? Develop a new sustainability regulation framework? Implement a plan for developing a public transportation system fueled by alternative energies? Inspiring global solutions with local solutions. Setting the example. So when the eyes of the world are in Mexico City, people around the world can say, “Jeez, I wish we had that!” – just as we expressed with the “Water Cube” or the “Bird’s Nest” in Beijing 2008. When it comes to inspiring the world, the Mexican government has made some early strides. (Check out the Mexican Economic Plan for Climate Change). Mexican president Felipe Calderón is going to take part in the last discussions in Copenhagen, and to set the stage for his participation, he announced the government’s commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% in 2020 and 50% by 2050. And he has also declared that Mexico will be the first developing country to propose and back the creation of a Global Green Fund. Yes, all these plans are great news, but is it enough to help inspire the global community? We have 365 days to do much more. Yes, hosting COP16 is a great responsibility. But at the same time, it’s a great opportunity to not only be part of a global solution, but also to develop our sustainable infrastructure and national prowess. Celebrate Humanity captures the spirit of the Olympics. Celebrating humanity as hope for a better world, for everybody joining together as one, for enjoying ourselves with no fears or doubts, for focusing in what makes us the same instead in what makes us different. Certainly, hope has been spread not only in the streets of Hopenhagen, but through cities around the world. But how can we keep it alive? Lets keep Hope as the motto of every COP, not just COP15. OLYMPICS LEARNING #4: ONE DIFFERENCE The Olympic Creed reads as follows: "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well." So here’s the difference: against climate change, we have to triumph. It’s not enough just to struggle or fight well. He have to conquer. Countries prepare for years to host the games, billions of people follow closely what happen in the games, and when the games end, the feeling of world oneness echoes for a while. Is it a naïve dream to hope that we could one day see the same happening when a global sustainability event happens, like COP16? As I said, let hope prevail, but let work and actions spread that hope. OLYMPICS LEARNING #3: HOPE AND INSPIRATION
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