At the exact time the Paris agreement was being adopted, I was in a plane flying over Greenland, which I was able to see from above. Greenland is home to the second largest ice sheet in the world, trailing only Antarctica. The ice is over two miles thick in some places, and averages over a […]
“Being at COP21, being here as a teacher, has really changed my career. It is going to motivate me to do more of what is right.” – Billy Koenig, Dec. 11, 2015
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart” ― Helen Keller COP21 is an emotional roller-coaster. I don’t want to miss a single thing and I’m exhausted. Throughout this week I have experienced a wider range of emotions than any other […]
Walking through the conference areas at COP21, I am struck by the religious presence here. You probably wouldn’t equate the environmental movement with religious ideologies, but the Vatican is represented here, I’ve met an Episcopal lobbyist from Washington, and at dinner last night someone from the Sierra Club encouraged me to read the Pope’s recent […]
The most difficult part of being at COP21 is trying to wade through all of the numbers and acronyms that people are using. How to keep them straight, what they mean, or how did we even reach these numbers in the first place. First let’s start with the numbers around the COPs (or Conference of […]
Treehugger, hippie, flower child, greenie, liberal, idealistic kid. These would probably be the stereotypical response from many Americans as to who is taking part in COP21 in Paris. There are a number of these kinds of “traditional” environmentalists here, but the number of businessmen, businesswoman, “suits,” financiers, executives, capitalists, and even grandparents that are also […]
“You see with your satellites, I see with my eyes,” said Mundiya Kepanga, a Papuan Chief from Papua New Guinea through his translator. Greenhouse gases cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted. Climate change itself can not be seen by the masses. Someone who does not have an intimate relationship with land or nature has to […]
From the start of the COP21 climate conference I have been struck by the gravity of the situation. Each country, each delegation, each person, is here for the same event but different reasons. I don’t know what everyone else’s reasons are, but here is mine: I like beauty. And (wife and kids aside) nature is […]
As our COP21 Window Into Paris program approaches, we will be featuring an educator in our delegation each week to share their thoughts on the program and how they plan to incorporate their experience at the UN climate change negotiations into their classrooms. This week’s featured educator is Billy Koenig, a high school biology teacher […]