On the side

The first week of UNFCCC conferences is always packed with tremendously interesting and informative "side events". These are lectures, seminars or discussions on virtually any aspect of climate change put on by groups from across the world. Space on-site is much sought after in the months leading up to the conference, and Christian Aid was fortunate not only to secure a venue for its panel discussion today but also to have Naomi Klein as one of the panellists.

In response to a question about integrating legal rights into the climate change debate, Ms Klein said it was no longer a question of a right to development but a right to survival. Referring to the plight of the people of Tuvalu, highlighted earlier in the week, Naomi Klein continued: 'It's not just about climate refugees but about cultures disappearing under the waves'. She quoted the President of Sri Lanka who had referred to 'a benign form of genocide' and suggested that it was not particularly benign.

She went on: 'After having all the information in front of us and choosing to do nothing, we cannot plead ignorance. I woke up this morning thinking about the word "adaptation". We have had seminars about adaptation in Bangladesh. Why are they the only ones adapting to climate change? We need seminars about how the rich world needs to adapt to climate change, by shopping less and so on, not just Bangladesh.'

The presence of young people at these conferences has become much more marked in the last few years, and last night some of them were out and about in the city of Copenhagen. Led by DanChurch Aid (Christian Aid's Danish sister agency) they organised a 'follow me flash mob', created by using mobile phones and social networking sites, and in the cold and wet, a long stream of people, not all of them particularly young, made their way to a refugee climate camp in the heart of the city. Here, Jack, a gap year volunteer from Christian Aid in Wales, explained to a slightly puzzled American television interviewer why it was important. They were there, he said, to draw the attention of this busy city to people in countries like Kenya being forced to leave their homes because of the changing climate.

Whatever the outcome of negotiations next week, both delegates and local people can hardly fail to come away from Copenhagen rather better informed than they were even a few days ago. And some of them will have had quite a bit of fun in the process.