I woke up this morning (at regular intervals characteristic of jetlag) to find myself filled with the spirit of, to quote numerous billboards around the capital, “Hopenhagen”. If all went smoothly I would be registered as a Non-Government Observer (NGO) observer at the COP15 before mid-morning. After an auspicious start with a truly magnificent breakfast buffet, I left for the Bella Center and quickly discovered I wasn’t the only one excited about the second week of climate action.
In the end, it took me roughly seven hours to set foot into the main entrance of the conference center. During those trying hours I experienced a range of emotions and physiological states. Having gradually lost the feeling in my toes and close to all the self-restraint I could muster for the gentleman singing about “Copenhagen Genocide”, I slowly savored my last food ration, a pitifully (it seemed, to my growling stomach) small energy bar. I endured the self-important smirks of the delegates and press members who strode through security as though on chariots, their badges held out in front of them as manifestations of their triumphs. The bustling excitement waited nor far beyond the obstructive metal detector. I was close, and yet so very, very far away.
Almost like a binding climate deal.
I did, however, eventually get my badge and was fortunate enough to catch one of the panels later this evening, which featured the Swedish Vice Prime Minister, the Deputy Mayor of Stockholm, the CEO of Electrolux, and the Deputy Director General of the Environment by the European Commission. They discussed the roles of European businesses in climate change and presented the current crisis situation as a “golden opportunity”. It was argued that technology could play a vital role in carbon dioxide reductions by replacing the cumbersome old with the new and efficient or in the case of developing nations, leapfrog the old technology entirely. The growing middle class that aspires to raise their standards of living through, among others, the purchase of technology can play a key role in climate change by choosing these products and thereby saving energy and emissions. The participants stressed the importance of raising awareness in the consumer, indicating that the average consumer had little to no idea regarding the magnitude of the impact of their consumption choices. Climate change can therefore present a market for technology that businesses willingly cater to, at least in the regional European scale.