Hope at Cancun: the silent momentum

I am one of the hundreds of young people awake at 4am, not sampling the local tequila or hitting the hotel strip, but hunched over our laptops in a dingy hostel, designing policy, writing speeches, researching negotiations, planning actions and trying to highlight the urgency of this moment.

Before COP16 had begun, youth based NGO's from around the world were engaging with their governments, their negotiators and each other, building pressure on governments to make the most of COP16. Over 400 young people gathered in Cancún for the Conference of Youth prior to the UN negotiations, allowing a truly global climate change movement to form a unified front on the world stage at COP16.

Most importantly, this silent momentum at Cancun is reflected in the national delegations negotiating the outcomes of the conference. There is no grand rhetoric, no unreachable goal and as yet no world leaders. Only a pragmatic commitment to resolving the problems preventing a global treaty. Executive Secretary of the Conference Christiana Figueres stated that governments are within reach of launching action on adaptation, technology transfer, and forests and creating a new fund for long-term climate finance. Already significant progress has been made on issues such as financial assistance to developing nations, global adaptation and technology development cooperation.

It's not pretty, and it certainly won't make great headlines or sell papers, but having seen this quiet explosion of momentum over the last week I feel confident that it will do the job. It will lay the most solid and substantial foundations ever seen at an international level, allowing a legally binding agreement that will finally act on emissions in coming years.

It may not be what is required with such an urgent climate crisis, but it may well be the best we can get from the political realities of the international order. The silent momentum of the non-governmental organizations and the world's youth will be sure to increase its voice whenever a slowdown appears.

Don't doubt the efforts at COP16; the world cannot afford to doubt the efforts. It may not be headline news or involve soaring rhetoric, but the silent momentum driving the negotiations at Cancún are moving us all towards a safer and cleaner future. It may not excite many people, but its implications are profound. Don't doubt the real Cancun.