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December 10, 09
Robert Stanfield International Airport
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Well, hello.聽
I鈥檝e been asked to keep notes on this trip: the trip to Denmark, to Copenhagen (and Aarhus), to what might be a landmark event in the world of global environmental governance or鈥攁 rather sad commentary on the impossibility of global environmental governance.聽聽
I鈥檓 a professor of history at AV俱乐部.聽I鈥檓 also the coordinator of Dal鈥檚 program, and an instructor in its .聽And I鈥檓 one of two delegates鈥攚ith Deborah Buszard, the College鈥檚 associate director for research鈥攆rom AV俱乐部 on the Nova Scotia mission to and : one the political negotiations over a climate treaty (COP stands for 鈥淐onference of the Parties鈥�), the other an exhibition/conference on green energies.
So why would I be going to Denmark? I know very little about greenhouse gases and air pollution, which is the major problem at hand; or about carbon capture and alternative energy technologies, which are some major solutions.聽And apart from one research project about the , I know little about historical climate change. (In case you were wondering:聽the north Atlantic was quite a bit warmer a thousand years ago).聽This makes me something of an exception among the rest of the Nova Scotia delegates, most of whom are either politicians or businesspeople with some kind of energy product to sell (tidal, wave, wind.聽Nova Scotia鈥攕omewhat ironically for a place so known for its coal mining history鈥攈as a lot of potential in this area).聽
I鈥檓 going to Denmark, I think, for two reasons.聽 My first job after grad school was teaching Canadian Studies at Aarhus University鈥攁nd I absolutely fell in love with the country. I鈥檝e been back three times; it鈥檚 a terrific connection for an academic.聽Denmark and Canada might look different on the surface鈥擟anada is roughly 230 times the size of Denmark; Denmark has a millennia-old monarchy鈥攂ut there are some fascinating historical relationships, especially in terms of the circumpolar north.聽
More importantly, though, I鈥檓 going on behalf of the three hundred students that I just finished teaching in the first-year Environment, Sustainability and Society course in the College 鈥� and the hundreds more I hope to teach in years to come.聽I鈥檓 going to Denmark to see if world leaders share the kind of dedication to the planet that my students have.聽To learn more about global climate issues and the mechanisms of transnational governance, which is something we talk about in class.聽And to talk about Dal, the College, and Canadian Studies to anybody who will listen.
So here鈥檚 our schedule (so you can decide if you want to keep reading these things).聽This weekend we will be primarily at the brightgreen event; the Crown Prince is the opening speaker on Saturday morning, after all!聽 Monday and Tuesday I will be in Aarhus, meeting with people about Canadian Studies, student exchanges with Dal, and some of that university鈥檚 major environmental research units.聽 Wednesday I鈥檓 back with the team in Copenhagen, and we fly home (too) early on Thursday.聽But first, the dreary and dreadful red-eye to Heathrow.
I鈥檝e been reading reports from the COP 15 talks:聽developing countries feel excluded and disempowered; the major industrial nations are uncooperative; polar bears are drowning as the arctic melts; tarsandstarsandstarsands.聽But I refuse to be discouraged.聽There鈥檚 an incredibly positive spirit among the Nova Scotia delegates, and while we may not come away from the COP with climate change 鈥渟olved,鈥� having the discussion itself has a lot of value.聽For one, it鈥檚 going to spotlight the possibilities for cleaner energy in Nova Scotia.聽And for another, this is something that we need to do a lot of if we鈥檙e going to get any good at it.聽We鈥檙e not very good at large-scale, long-term planning, or at getting different countries to cooperate on such things.聽But we also haven鈥檛 been doing it very long: arguably since the early 20th century, and really only in the past twenty or聽30 years when it comes to environmental issues.聽
We鈥檝e got to start somewhere.