It takes more that two to tango

Transcription

It takes
more that two
to tango …
UNFCCC COP4
Buenos Aires, November 1998
a Young Generation Mix is facing the Future …
a report on the activities of the
European Nuclear Young Generation
at
The 4th Conference of the Parties to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Buenos Aires, 2-13 November 98
the Nuclear Young Generation at COP4
Astrid Gisbertz (Germany) - Sebastián Luppi Berlanga (Argentina) - Stanislav Rapavý (Slovakia)
Françoise Vanthemsche (Belgium) - Werner Süss (Germany) - Marie Agnès N'Diaye (France)
Midori Murayama (Japan) - Annie Caputo (USA) - Ulrika Dethlefsen (Sweden) - Emma Cornish (United Kingdom)
Ágota Szabo (Hungary) - Rob van den Berg (Netherlands) - Paul Wilson (Canada) - Tracy Young (USA)
Emma Johansson (Sweden) - Gaston Meskens (Belgium) - Piluca Nuñez Lopez (Spain)
Bernhard Rösli (Switzerland) - Jenny Chalmers (United Kingdom) - Ann-Charlotte Cleve (Sweden)
Dorothy K Seed (United Kingdom) - Henning Rentz (Germany) - Pierre Colin (France)
report edited by
Astrid Gisbertz (ENSYGN Chair)
Gaston Meskens (ENSYGN Co-chair)
and reviewed by
Iris Riesen (ENS YGN Contact Officer)
[email protected] - www.euronuclear.org/ygn
Table of Contents
3
Table of Contents
1
What happened before
2
Activities at UNFCCC COP4
COP4 daily activities - the Red, the Green and the Blue group
The ENS YGN COP4 Statement
The ENS YGN Side bar event
The YG contacts with the press
Contacts with other (green) NGO’s
Contacts with delegations
3
Looking back
4
Facing the future
Annex
ENS YGN
report on the ENS YGN activities at COP4, Buenos Aires
January 1999
What happened before …
1
4
Between December 1 and 12, 1997, Astrid Gisbertz and Gaston Meskens
represented the ENSYG at the Climate Change Conference in Kyoto. The
ENSYGN took part in a joint nuclear observer group - called the International
Nuclear Forum (INF) - at UNFCCC COP3. Looking back, we can say that we had a
clear impact on the daily life in the conference rooms and corridors and started
to raise the visibility of nuclear on the conference and in the international press
during that time. Back home from Kyoto, we realised that the work we did was
just a beginning. The fact that we were there confused pressure groups and made
journalists curious. This is of course not the objective. It should be a first step
towards more effective communication on nuclear.
energy & climate Climate change and longterm energy strategies are world-scale common
concerns, and decisions taken now will have an important impact on the quality of life of
our future generations. As electricity production is one of the major CO2 sources (next to
transport and domestic use of energy), nuclear can play a role when it comes to agreeing on
policies and measures to cut global warming - even with regard to sensitive topics such as
joint implementation, clean development mechanisms and trading.
However, before a more technical discussion on this role of nuclear can be
possible, we will have to go for a new kind of communication with the public, politicians
and the press. A communication where we position ourselves more 'down to earth' - on
the same level as those with concerns and the prejudices.
Taking into account the lessons learned in Kyoto, it is clear
that there is especially a task for the Young Generation with regard to communication on
nuclear and on energy issues in general. As we said before, we want to do it 'with style':
without a defensive attitude and with a little bit more pop art and philosophy added to the
scientific background. We do not have the intention to go our own way by 'starting all over
again'. It is the synergy of young and older generations' ideas, beliefs and experiences
together that will make the difference.
a role for the ENSYG
With this in mind, it was clear that - on the occasion of the next UN meetings
with regard to climate change topics - the YG should again take part in the debate, saying
that nuclear is 'part of the solution'.
In early 1998, actions were taken by ENS, and with support of
the ENC (European Nuclear Council), to convince companies to send more young people
what happened before
ENS YGN
January 1999
5
to the next UN climate gatherings, namely the 8th Meeting of the Subsidiary Bodies (SB8) in
June in Bonn and the 4th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Buenos Aires.
Within a few weeks, a group of enthusiastic young people from all over Europe was
formed. In the meantime, contacts were made with Japan, the US and also with Argentina,
the host country, in order to extend our group with some 'overseas' members, so that we
could act as a real international group at COP4.
We met for the first time for a preparatory meeting in Bonn (June 98) and for a
second time in London (September 98) in order to get to know each other better. In Bonn,
some of us participated in the SB8 meetings (because the Bonn meetings are not so
crowded and chaotic, the 'new' people there got an 'easy start' …). During the London
meeting, we got some useful media training and we prepared a working plan and a draft for
a YG COP4 statement.
and then there was
COP4 …
The 4th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Buenos Aires gave us the
opportunity to communicate our YG message in an even more lively and visible fashion then
we had done in Kyoto.
ENS YGN
January 1999
6
This report tells you what happened there …
the color of our skin and our social and cultural background
may be different, but the enthusiasm to communicate our concern for the future
environment and for future generations is undoubtedly the same …
Gaston Meskens & Astrid Gisbertz
January 1999
ENS YGN
January 1999
YG activities at COP4
2
7
YG activities at UNFCCC COP4
In this section, you will read about our daily activities at the
conference, the YG COP4 statement we wrote and the side bar event we organized
over there. The text is completed with some interesting things to mention about
the contacts we had with journalists, members of other Non Governemental
Organisations (NGO) (especially with those 'green' NGOs) and with politicians
(members of the different national delegations).
2.1
COP4 daily activities - the Red, the Green and the Blue group
Yes, the COP4 daily life… Pressure groups said to the press that there were
hundreds of nuclear people over there in Buenos Aires. We whished it was true, because
then work would have been a little easier. The International Nuclear Forum at COP4
consisted of 6 nuclear organizations from all over the world: FORATOM, ENS, The
Uranium Institute, the Japanese Atomic Industrial Forum, the Nuclear Energy Institute (US)
and the Canadian Nuclear Association (ask for our INF COP4 statement). Although these
organisations worked very closely together (on the run to COP4 as well as on the
conference itself) and acted as one forum, it was decided that the Young Generation should
act more independently and should be more visible as a separate group. Anyway, just take a
quick look at our 'working' plan for each of the twelve COP4 days :
ENS YGN
January 1999
8 AM
9 AM
8
ENYG meeting (Wilton Palace Hotel) or INF breakfast meeting (Marriott Hotel (Astrid, Gaston))
International Chamber of Commerce meeting (INF member + one of us; Ulrika, Werner, …)
10 AM
meeting ALL INF at the exhibit stand:
- study UNFCCC daily program
- agreement on who will go where (UN Meetings, NGO side bars, press conferences, …)
- agreement on who will be at the stand that day
10 AM to 5 PM
UN meetings, side bar events, press conferences, stand, discussions, writing texts, sending out
reports ...
5 PM
meeting ALL INF at the exhibit stand:
agenda : briefing from the INF morning meeting
briefing from ICC meeting
briefing by the blue, the red & the green group
collection of report material
preparation of the side bar event
special events (sheduled or anounced) for the day after: who will do what …
6 PM until too exhausted
attending evening meetings of the UN contact groups, COP,
NGO's, …………………………………….
ENS YGN
January 1999
9
cope with COP
and lose weight
...
As the UNFCCC catering in Argentina was extremely bad (only coke and some
other rubbish), combined with the hard work some of us lost a significant amount of weight
during the day, unfortunately compensated for by 'far too much' Argentinian steak and red
wine during the night…
As far as the YG is concerned, on the occasion of the COP, three Young Nuclear
Climate Teams were formed, having distinct jobs during the conference. The three groups
were coordinated by Astrid Gisbertz (Germany) and Gaston Meskens (Belgium) and have
been named Blue, Green and Red. Briefly :
blue
followed the UN meetings
prepared reports about the negotiation`s process and briefed the INF
starring
Ulrika Dethlefsen (Sweden) - Bernhard Rösli (Switzerland) - Ágota Szabo (Hungary)
Ann-Charlotte Cleve (Sweden) - Marie Agnès N'Diaye (France) - Sebastián Luppi
Berlanga (Argentina)
red
responsible for communication activities together with the INF
wrote news summaries to send back to the companies
prepared COP4 publications & statements
starring Rob van den Berg (Netherlands) - Dorothy K Seed (United Kingdom) - Piluca Nuñez
Lopez (Spain)
Françoise Vanthemsche (Belgium) - Pierre Colin (France) - Annie Caputo (USA) - Paul
Wilson (Canada)
Tracy Young (USA)
green
monitored NGO side bar activities
prepared reports about them and briefed the INF
organized the YG side bar event
starring Emma Johansson (Sweden) - Stanislav Rapavý (Slovakia) - Werner Süss (Germany)
Jenny Chalmers (United Kingdom) - Emma Cornish (United Kingdom) - Henning Rentz (Germany)
ENS YGN
January 1999
10
or, more in detail …
The Blue group was responsible for attending the official
sessions of COP4, including both the Subsidiary Bodies, and if the COP met, these
meetings as well. The Blue group tried to be in touch with their government delegations
and the EU delegations to provide information to the INF on the current status of the
negotiations. On a rotating basis, someone from the Blue Group was responsible for
reporting to the INF each day. A 20- page comprehensive report on the final status of the
negotiations at the end of COP 4 was prepared before the end of December.
The Green group was responsible for the organization of the YG side bar event.
This included: selecting speakers and finding a moderator, preparing texts, organising a
conference room and preparing and distributing publicity for the event. During the
conference, the Green group was responsible for monitoring the NGO and IGO activities.
This included attending side bar events organised by the environmental and other NGOs
and IGOs and asking questions (as intelligent and tricky as possible - but in style!) so that
nuclear was mentioned in these workshops. Every member was responsible for gathering
intelligence about Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth anti-nuclear activities.
The Red group was responsible for communication activities. They also had to
make sure that there were always people to man the INF exhibition stand (which was
located in the press area). The persons at the stand had to respond to requests for
information or interviews from the delegates, NGOs and the media. They also ensured that
European position papers and other documents were always available at the exhibit. The
members of the Red group were responsible for collecting press clippings about the COP4
on a daily basis from the Spanish and English language newspapers to be faxed back to
Europe. Finally, every second day, this group wrote a summary on what happened at COP4;
a summary which was sent back to Europe to keep our companies informed about our
activities.
ENS YGN
January 1999
11
You know 'Buenos Aires'
means 'good air' …
Maybe during the night ? The three groups wrote a significant amount of texts and reports for
'internal use' during COP4. Of course, we cannot present all these documents here, but
below, you'll find some short reflections on COP4 from the different groups.
ENS YGN
January 1999
12
short report by the blue group
After recognising that there was a climate change problem in Rio de Janeiro
(1992) and setting goals to address it in Kyoto (1997), it was time to determine strategies
to achieve these goals. This process began slowly at COP4 in Buenos Aires. The issue of
voluntary commitments by developing countries quickly brought the negotiations to a
standstill. With some developing countries looking for official recognition for the
commitments that they were prepared to make, many others were opposed to creating
such a special category in this diplomatic process. In order to allow the negotiations to
proceed, this item was taken off the agenda for this meeting. (Nevertheless, President
Menem of host nation Argentina later declared his country's intentions to make a voluntary
commitment at COP5.)
The most important remaining issue was the development of a working plan for
flexible mechanisms, and the Clean Development Mechanism [CDM], in particular. The
hope was to develop an agenda of milestones and responsibilities for the various parties
leading to the implementation of CDM in the year 2000. Following days of deadlock, a small
committee was formed, with representatives from the United States, the European Union
and the G77 and China. Tasked with forging a new starting point for the negotiations, the
results of their deliberations provided the basis for the eventual agreement.
The Buenos Aires conference ended with the adoption of a two-year Plan of
Action which, according to the final press release, "establishes deadlines for finalizing the
outstanding details of the Kyoto Protocol so that agreement will be fully operational when
it enters into force sometime after the year 2000".
Wanna read more ?
6/1998
see also Ulrika's text which was issued as ENS Nucleus Article
short report by the green group
Alongside the official negotiations at COP4, there were quite a few side bar
events arranged by the participating NGOs. Typically, there were about 10 side bar
events a day, focusing on the flexibility mechanisms, especially CDM, and transfer of
technology. Many of the side bars were rather technical, discussing how to design and
how to adopt rules and guidelines. One example was the OECD and IEA side bar on
emission trading and joint implementation, dealing with different possible structures
and problems of a trading system. At this side bar both Denmark and the UK launched
proposals for domestic trading regimes.
The views on nuclear were of course diverse, depending on the organiser of
the event. The side bar arranged by Edison Electric and Unipede expressed support for
nuclear power, especially in the context of climate change and GHG emissions
ENS YGN
January 1999
13
avoidance. INFORSE, International Network for Sustainable Energy, openly dismissed
nuclear power in the context of the CDM. Still, the general feeling was that people
were willing to discuss the nuclear issue and throughout the conference, references to
nuclear energy continued to be made at different side bar events. It left a clear
impression that nuclear energy is being recognised as a means of avoiding CO2
emissions and that it has a role to play in the climate change discussions.
short report by the red group
Once initial difficulties with customs had been overcome and the INF stand was
able to be completed, it attracted increasing attention from delegates, particularly during
the second week. The availability of a good selection of information and position papers in
different languages was a clear advantage. Delegates proved to be willing to talk and listen,
and environmental NGO representatives came to the stand to discuss facts and figures.
One of their key tactics was to challenge the industry’s statemenets about nuclear energy’s
contribution to CO2 avoidance and consequently an open letter to delegates was prepared
in order to refute the basis of their arguments. A slide-show of facts and figures was also
prepared.
The presence of so many young people from the nuclear industry created
increasing press interest as the conference proceeded and the resultant coverage was
positive and encouraging across radio, television and newspapers. The nuclear industry was
not the object of direct attacks, as might have been expected; it was the oil industry instead
which was targeted by the environmentalists.
Communication of the Young Generation’s activities back to the nuclear
companies served two purposes: it gave insights on what was happening both officially and
in the “corridors”; and it demonstrated the value of the Young Generation approach. The
latter is already being given strong support and encouragement as a means of opening up a
more ethical dialogue.
ENS YGN
January 1999
2.2
14
In 1997, the ENSYG wrote a position paper on the future need for nuclear
energy. The text is not only dealing with the technical aspects of nuclear but also contains
some philosophical and ethical reflections. For COP4, the objective was to write a
statement, based on this position paper and drawing more attention to the ethics with
regard to international energy policies (and the role of nuclear) - all this from a typical
‘young’ point of view.
The statement contains three main messages :
0
0
nuclear must be part of a balanced energy mix ;
nuclear can fit into the flexibility mechanisms - especially into Joint
Implementation and the Clean Development Mechanism ;
0
nuclear is sustainable, also with regard to waste - there are reasonable technical
and socially acceptable solutions for disposal and transport.
Finally, the ENSYGN COP4 Statement was signed by all the members of our
group (coming from Germany, Argentina, Slovakia, Belgium, France, Japan, the USA,
Sweden, Hungary, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom).
more ?
The full text of our statement, as we presented it in BA, is added to the Annex.
reduce CO2 !? It was good to hear that president Menem of Argentina promised to
take some voluntary actions to reduce CO2 emissions before COP5. We can only hope he
will not do this by removing this colorful dinosaur technology from of the streets of his city
of Good Air …
ENS YGN
January 1999
ENS YGN
15
January 1999
2.3
16
The ENS YGN Side bar event
On Tuesday November 10, during the second week of COP4, the ENS YG chaired
a special public discussion session in Buenos Aires to coincide with the ongoing COP4
conference, with the aim of "opening a debate" between young delegates, young members of
the nuclear industry and their counterparts in environmental groups.
The discussion was scheduled to cover three selected topics of the ENS
YGN COP4 statement – nuclear as part of a balanced energy mix, nuclear and flexibility
mechanisms, and waste and sustainability – although it ended up focusing largely on the first
one.
In particular, young delegates (politicians) and members of green NGOs
were asked to take part in the talks. The objective was to think amongst ourselves about
our common concerns and - in the end - to try to come to a sort of common view on our
future.
The session, originally by invitation only, started out with around 20 young
people, but was opened up very quickly to a lot of interested COP4 participants who were
waiting at the entrance. Also representatives of several major environmental groups,
including Greenpeace International and Friends of the Earth, were active in the debate. In
the end (after two hours of discussion) more than 70 people - with a roughly equal split
between pro- and anti-nuclear camps - sat or stood around, and it took us a lot of effort to
try to bring an end to the talks (we had to, because the room was scheduled for an other
event).
conclusion ?
It was good to see that not only pressure groups were represented, but
that interested delegates and other non-governmental organisation (NGO) members were
also there, who were especially attracted by the concept of the event – a roundtable
debate, with more empathy and less confrontation.
Some pressure group representatives said they appreciated both the 'new'
approach of the YG – 'finally leaving the ivory tower and opening the doors of industry to an
open dialogue' – and the fact that we recognised the importance of renewables in the
energy mix.
To put it straight, we don't think anyone on either side left the room with their
previous views about nuclear altered, but there was a constructive dialogue which did not
degenerate into confrontation, and we believe we can build on this in the future…
ENS YGN
January 1999
17
COP4: hot talks during the
ENS YG side bar event
on Tuesday afternoon
November 10, 1998
never trust a Prof…
As we were looking for a neutral basis for discussion, we
asked Professor Goldemburg from the University of Sao Paolo to be the moderator of our
event. Nowadays, he is active in the UN Environmental Program (UNEP), but back in the
eighties he was the minister of Environment of Brazil and one of the driving forces behind
the Rio Climate Conference in 1992.
He especially warned us before that he should play a very neutral role in the
debate, which was of course OK for us (as it was exactly what we were looking for). But
not only to our surprise, during his introduction, he made one of the strongest anti-nuclear
statements we have ever heard. Even the people of Friends of the Earth were embarrased!
In the end, they were convinced we must have been absolutely crazy to ask him to
moderate, so that was pretty cool. Anyway, he left after one hour (as foreseen) and Astrid
took over the 'moderating role'.
ENS YGN
January 1999
18
Professor Goldemburg
during his cool introduction
while Astrid is thinking :
'How can we ever talk
ourselves out of this …'
ENS YGN
January 1999
2.4
19
The YG contacts with the press
In Kyoto, on the occasion of COP3, there were more than 3000 journalists at the
conference. At COP4, there were only about 700. The reason is obvious: the topics to be
discussed at COP4 were not as catchy as they were at COP3. Journalists cannot make
stories out of endless discussions on details with regard to flexibility mechanisms or
voluntary commitments.
So everybody over there who gets excited to be in front of a camera or who likes
to speak to a tape recorder suffered from less media attention than the previous time. The
same goes for the YG and the other members of the INF, but the important thing was that,
although we did fewer interviews, we caught the interest of the most important
newspapers and TV stations over there – especially the YG.
Astrid was interviewed by the two major German TV stations (ARD and ZDF),
the Japanese national TV (we had the impression they filmed her for hours …), the
Argentinian national TV (ATC), a correspondent for 6 German newspapers and a journalist
working for an Austrian newspaper (important because in fact anti-nuclear) ;
Astrid and Piluca did a live show on Argentinian national TV. They had an
interview and people could call the studio and ask questions (quite a 'chaotic' experience,
they told us later … ) ;
Gaston had a long interview with La Nación (the biggest quality newspaper in
Argentina. The article the journalist wrote in the end was neutral and good, but it is
strange to read things you said in a language you don't understand), and had a camera
interview with BBC World News, together with somebody from Greenpeace International
(the funny thing with BBC World is that, although you say something once, you come on TV
24 times, because the news is repeated every hour).
By the way, by doing interviews together with somebody from Greenpeace, you
just notice the road we still have to travel: he got double speaking time AND the last word
…
During our side bar event, we got one German camera team and about 10 other
journalists interested to stopping by.
Rob had an interview with two Dutch newspapers, Ann-Charlotte had one with a
Swedish newspaper ...
It was good to see that the press noticed that we were there and that we left a
good impression on them … , and apparently not only because of our knowledge about
nuclear: during the second week, we got to know that journalists talked about one of us as
being 'the nuclear answer to Naomi Campbell' …
ENS YGN
January 1999
ENS YGN
20
January 1999
2.5
21
Contacts with other (green) NGO’s
The contacts with green NGOs in particular were good to very good (to our
surprise). Depending on many personal talks (technical as well as emotional ones …) we
learned that, compared to our start the year before in Kyoto, the climate had already
changed between the greens and the young nuclear group. As we were confronted with
aggression, disbelief or ignorance last time in Japan, we had as hard, but open, curious and
constructive discussions this time. We got the impression that common concerns together
with 'another style' of communication do a lot when it comes to getting ourselves 'closer
together'. Actually, for the first time, both sides had the feeling that, although we maybe
never agree in principle, a constructive dialogue is possible. This was stressed especially by
a clear statement of a member of one of the greens after our side bar event: "In fact, this
was the first time the nuclear industry showed themselves open and transparent. Perhaps
something has changed. Please, continue in this way in the future…"
COP4, November 12 1998, midnight …
Everybody who has not given up yet is waiting for the start of the final plenary
session. A bunch of young people are sitting together in the press area, having a small
improvised wine party. A journalist passes by, takes a picture and goes on his way.
Somebody stops him and asks: 'Do you realize the picture you just took ? A group of
nuclear people, Greenpeace activists and some Friends of the Earth, sitting together and
having a drink and a chat …'.
The final plenary started at three in the morning. the wine was finished by then …
ENS YGN
January 1999
22
Gaston Meskens (ENS), Françoise Vanthemsche (ENS), Astrid Gisbertz (ENS) and Agota
Szabo (ENS), and in the middle … Simon Carroll of Greenpeace International.
We hope the poor guy was not fired for this …
ENS YGN
January 1999
2.6
23
Contacts with delegations
This paragraph is by no means the shortest one of the whole report …
Thanks to the rather special atmosphere of a UN Climate Change conference different from other conferences with regard to the official and unofficial processes or the
variety of groups taking part - in principle everybody had the chance to meet politicians or
even ministers from the countries' delegations hanging around in the corridors, during
lunch time or in front of the different exhibition stands.
But in fact it is hard work to meet someone 'important' between the sessions
who is not totally tired after a hard day of negotiations. Some delegates just refuse to have
contact with business groups - especially nuclear groups - to avoid the impression of being
influenced by the observers' groups.
At COP4, only our Swedish and German members were able to build up good
contact with their national delegations.
The Swedish YG members managed to get invited to the daily Swedish delegation
meetings, and therefore were an important source of information for the rest of the INF
group.
Given the special situation in Germany, the German delegation received of course
a lot of attention. The German minister of environment managed to say in his official speech
to the plenary that 'a phase-out of nuclear (in his country) is inevitable if it comes to fulfilling
the Kyoto commitments with regard to reducing CO2 emmissions' …
If you don't believe this, ask us for the full text of his speech …
ENS YGN
January 1999
Looking back …
3
24
Looking back …
Or, as they say: a conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking. …
The 4th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Buenos Aires gave
us the opportunity to communicate our YG in an even more lively and fisible
fashion than we did in Kyoto. This report gave you an idea what happened at COP4.
The first thing we can say is that, much more than during COP3, the visibility of
nuclear was succesfully raised. From now on, we are ‘part of the process’.
Although energy consumption is only responsible for a part of the world's CO2production (in Europe roughly one third), people (delegates as well as NGO members) feel
more and more that they can no longer avoid talking about nuclear when it comes to
thinking about solutions to cope with global warming. Talking about the Young Generation,
it was clear that participants recognized us all over the conference as the group of nuke’s
girls & boys and … that they took us seriously.
Within the world climate debate, the major challenge for the nuclear world now
is twofold:
First, we have to prove and to explain to the public and the politicians that
building nuclear is not necessarily in contradiction with the concept of sustainable
development. As far as the treatment of high-level waste is concerned, it is clear that we
have reasonable technical solutions for disposal. We should now take a closer look at the
conditions under which they are socially acceptable.
The second point is our position with regard to the flexibility mechanisms
specified in the Kyoto Protocol: for the future, it is very important for the nuclear industry
to find the right balance between commercial objectives on the one hand and a kind of
ethical feeling (especially towards the developping countries) on the other hand. With
regard to the Clean Development Mechanism, it is obvious that there is a big difference
between installing solar panels and building nuclear in a developing country. Introducing
nuclear should be appropriate for that country in the first place, and - apart from
technological matters - is only possible within a culture of safety consciousness.
But first …
This report is also the right place to reflect on some lessons we learned
after four United Nations Climate gatherings during the last two years (two COPs and two
SBs).
ENS YGN
January 1999
Looking back …
25
With regard to the overall effectiveness of working within an International
Nuclear Forum, we think even more preparatory conversations between the different
members (ENS, FORATOM, NEI, JAIF, UI and the CNA) are necessary, in order to agree in
detail on strategies and on messages that will be communicated.
During preparations for the next meetings, we should get in touch with other
nuclear organisations (outside INF) active in the climate debate, just to prevent conflicting
messages and parallel actions, like we had to some extend at COP4.
As far as the Young Generation is concerned, we learned that two actions should
be taken to make sure that the members of the YG group are 'better prepared' :
The 'credibility' of the YG is still OK, but we have to take care for a 'burn-out' of
our image - we cannot continue giving out the same message. We are part of the process
now, so it is time to add a more scientific and technical background to our message. In
other words (and this is for the attention of the management of our different companies):
we are very greatful that a lot of young professionals got the chance to join us for our
activities in the climate debate, but please give them also the possibility to prepare
themselves beforehand. Every future YG member should get enough time to study
sufficiently before being 'thrown into the lions' den'.
Another way of being better prepared applies in fact to every member (young and
old) of the INF: we (the different national nuclear organizations) should come into contact
with the national delegations in our country more before going to the UN conferences. The
YG can help with that, but needs support from the company managers who have closer
contact with national politicians already. The same is true as far as journalists of the national
press and the national pressure groups are concerned. A closer contact at home saves time
and diplomacy efforts during the conference itself. But again, this needs time, and the
involvment of both our young professionals and their hierarchy.
ENS YGN
January 1999
Looking back …
26
the end
bye bye Buenos Aires …
ENS YGN
January 1999
Facing the future
4
27
Facing the future …
Our ENS President Pat Upson stressed in Buenos Aires the importance
of keeping the Young Generation involved in INF climate change activities. In
addition, the European Nuclear Society as the European Nuclear Council are
already asking their member countries to support the participation of young
professionals in the climate change and energy debate; not only in principle, but
also in practice …
As a kind of 'strategy for COP5' for the Young Generation, we should focus on
two aspects:
We should strenghten our contacts with the media and delegates more than we
have done so far. In fact, we have to make ourselves - in a positive way - 'as visible as the
pressure groups'. However, as we will never be the 'underdog', it is clear that this will be a
difficult task. In a manner of speaking: people not only have to know that 'we were there',
but also have to become interested in our opinion.
As far as our preparations for the next COP are concerned, COP5 will be a very
'technical' conference, focussing on details with regard to the specifications of the Kyoto
Protocol. In particular, flexibility mechanisms and the concept of 'sustainable development'
will get a lot of attention. So, if we really want to participate in the discussions, it is clear
that we have to prepare a set of scientifically sound statements on 'nuclear and flexibility
mechanisms' and 'nuclear and sustainability' (with regard to waste). No doubt these things
will take a lot of study- and preparation time.
Dear reader … No matter what your professional background is, we hope we managed
to convince you that the climate is changing … We mean the climate in which the talks
about and around nuclear take place. Although in some European countries decisions
against further development of nuclear are taken - decisions without any sound scientific or
technical reasoning - we remain optimistic about the future.
Continuing with the experience we already have now, it is a specific challenge for
the Young Generation to 'fight for our case' and to give nuclear a position of equality with
other energy sources, a position that it should get especially in view of the global debate on
protecting our climate and conserving natural resources. Our work started in Kyoto and
was pursued even more intensively during the two weeks of COP4 in Buenos Aires. But
we can only reach this goal if there is a strong synergy between the generations – a synergy
in which know-how and experience is combined with fighting spirit and openness. Only
then we can pursue new paths together and motivate today's young people - and only then
we can shape the image of a high-tech industry full of promise for the future.
ENS YGN
January 1999
Facing the future
28
February 1, 1999; for the Nuclear Young Generation,
Astrid Gisbertz and Gaston Meskens
ENS YGN
January 1999
Facing the future
29
Finally some last impressions of COP4 …
these were …
the young and older nuclear climate teams at COP4
and sorry for this …
ENS YGN
January 1999
Facing the future
30
Although the INF organized two succesful side bar events, the third one we did
hadn't really the expected outcome. OK, after all, we signed a contract with a local theatre
in Buenos Aires, but our message about the importance of nuclear we wanted to put
through didn't really reach the right public …
Better luck next time …
ENS YGN
January 1999
Facing the future
31
Annex
ENS YGN
January 1999
COP4 - a Young Generation Mix is facing the future …
There is an old Indian saying: “The earth is not a gift of our parents, it are our children who lend it out to us”…
We, young people in nuclear, want to draw your attention to an option which has until now been kept quiet in most of
the negotiations within the framework of climate change. It is our belief that, as electricity production is one of the major
CO2 sources (next to transport and domestic use of energy), nuclear can play a role when it comes to creating policies
and measures to cut global warming - even with regard to sensitive topics such as joint implementation, clean development
mechanisms and emissions trading.
After all, who doesn't want to take care of the environment ? No matter how much we ever differ in beliefs and opinions,
we all have to breath the same air and to walk on the same clean soil …it is a common concern. For our part, we can do a
lot of things: Doing research, communicating our concern, putting pressure, asking questions, presenting alternatives …
this is all fine, but in the end, we have to vote … We must rely on our delegates, giving them a mandate to develop energy
scenarios that are sustainable. It is disappointing - especially for a young person of today - to see how sound economic and
ecological arguments sometimes have to make way for ideologies originating from a lack of understanding about the real
facts and figures. Fortunately, it is not always like that …. This message invites discussion. So, let us raise some hot issues
and our view on how to handle them …
mix is the way
Population growth, together with economic development, leads to an inevitable ever-growing need for energy. We know
that this cannot go on forever, but in order to guarantee that our children will be able to enjoy a good quality of life in
times to come, every possible opportunity should be taken to ensure that they will be free to choose what is right and
reasonable. We need a balanced energy mix of all the existing sources (gas, coal, oil, nuclear and renewables), together
with an overall optimization of the energy consumption and a continuous search for new clean and safe energy sources.
The new challenge for everybody is to define the importance of each of the energy contributions in the mix, at local and at
international level, and taking into account (at least !) what is asked for in the Protocol. Nuclear is part of the solution …
nuclear and flexmex
It would not be very 'clean' towards the developing countries to sell them a nuclear power plant, take the money and
run… This is not our style. We do believe nuclear can fit into the flexibility mechanisms. It is carbon-free and an advanced
and innovative environmentally sound technology - just what the Protocol asks for. At the moment, not that much is
moving on the international nuclear market. When, under the framework of the Protocol, the climate would be 'ready' to
build nuclear under a JI or a CDM project, it is clear that the environmental additionality would be maximum, irrespective
of what kind of fossil base-load power station was avoided. With regard to the CDM, we understand that there is a big
difference between installing solar panels and building nuclear in a developing country. Introducing nuclear should be
appropriate for that country in the first place, and - apart from technology matters - is only possible within a culture of
safety consciousness.
compact and contain … or dilute and disperse ?
Yes, the waste… we know. Believe it or not, there are reasonable technical and socially acceptable solutions for disposal
and transport. We can show you (ask us !), but it only depends on what you want: some compact waste, well sealed,
controllable and retrievable at any time or … billions of tons of bad air up in the sky, impossible to take them back when
you start to smell and feel something is going wrong …
UNFCCC COP4, November 1998, Buenos Aires
[email protected]; www.euronuclear.org/ygn
We are young people from all over the globe: our culture, languages and training may be different,
but we share a determination to communicate our concern for the environment.
So, for the sake of future generations, let's make a joint effort now to energize the world ...
Astrid Gisbertz (Germany) - Sebastián Luppi Berlanga (Argentina) - Stanislav Rapavý (Slovakia)
Françoise Vanthemsche (Belgium) - Werner Süss (Germany) - Marie Agnès N'Diaye (France)
Midori Murayama (Japan) - Annie Caputo (USA) - Ulrika Dethlefsen (Sweden) - Emma Cornish (United Kingdom)
Ágota Szabo (Hungary) - Rob van den Berg (Netherlands) - Paul Wilson (Canada) - Tracy Young (USA)
Emma Johansson (Sweden) - Gaston Meskens (Belgium) - Piluca Nuñez Lopez (Spain)
Bernhard Rösli (Switzerland) - Jenny Chalmers (United Kingdom) - Ann-Charlotte Cleve (Sweden)
Dorothy K Seed (United Kingdom) - Henning Rentz (Germany) - Pierre Colin (France)
UNFCCC COP4, November 1998, Buenos Aires
[email protected]; www.euronuclear.org/ygn

It takes more that two to tango

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