The weather here is too similar to Ithaca

So this morning I went to a side event held by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs with GERES...I really had never heard of GERES but it was supposed to be about fighting both climate change and poverty, which I find interesting. Sadly, the event was not what I expected. I actually don't think any of the 6 panelists said anything about poverty. They talked a lot about carbon financing, and the president of the organization explained some biochar-like stove that I believe was meant to give more people access to cooking and food. They just did a poor job of integrating the presentation, and I don't feel like I came out with what I was hoping. Since I had lost interest, and the man next to me had been asleep for 40 minutes, I left when they started questions and went to the art exhibit. That was a much better idea, even though most of the artists didn't speak enough English for me to find out where the pieces were from or anything.

I'm leaving the conference with a lot of questions, but they're all in the notebook I left at the house. Basically, there is no one solution to climate change, and after going to dozens of side events, it seems like policy will not change if everyone is only concerned with their own agenda. I really hope that the next week of the conference is successful in addressing a holistic approach to the agreement to come next year at COP 15.

Nancy