I was there. But what did it mean to me? The experience of my first COP attendance- Part 1

The green sheep of the family made it to THE top environment conference (as the world sees it).

So, yes I made it to my first COP. The 18th meeting of parties to Kyoto Protocol (almost the entire world).
It was a big achievement personally and it happened because I participated in the 'Asia Pacific Youth Forum on green economy' held in Kathmandu this September. Read about it here: http://gradyouth.wordpress.com/

It was a 5 day long learning programme focused on understanding the concept of Green economy through lectures, field visits and knowledge sharing. It had a decent representation of 40 young participants from 13 different countries of the Asia pacific region. Collectively, we had prepared an outcome document which was to be disseminated during COP18 in Doha, Qatar. For this purpose, I along with 3 other participants were selected by the organisers.
They were: Timila Dhakwa from Nepal, Marufa Ishaque from Bangladesh and Netra Chap from Cambodia (Same order in the pic as well, From L to R)

                                            Speak about women empowerment ;) 

Our task was to shorten this document into a one page declaration which could be presented to negotiators and other stakeholders participating in this Climate Change conference.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5ou-4sv4VO_b2QyckdwVy1GWFE/edit (You can add your comments to it, if you want!)

So for two months we devoted few hours every week to coordinate with each other and prepared and planned out our BIG dream trip. We even collaborated with other Asian youth delegates participating in the conference. They hailed from China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Myanmar, Pakistan. And this was my best decision ever! (Will come back to this later).

So the D day finally arrived and I left home with lots of excitement, happiness, positivism and luggage :p
Arrival was non-eventful, but the excitement and the eagerness to reach Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC), the venue, was building up badly. I could not wait to get there.

When we finally reached there, the scale of the event was evident, the size of the venue is a direct indication of its importance and hype. You need a day or two just to figure out and get used to the place!
Unfortunately, we were on a tight schedule as we had already missed the first 4 days of the conference. We had to make use of every minute there (This was on our minds always!).

But wherever you go, the company, the sweet caring people around you just make your day. So, I had the privilege of being in such company and a friend of ours showed us the place and made us really comfortable and prepared (Thank you Wilson!)

We had planned some of our days and had registered for some side events in advance.

I can go on and on, recounting every minute of my experience there, but this would become a really long long post :) So, I will describe only the highlights of my trip.
There is a tendency in us to do everything, be everywhere but the first learning from COP is that, quantity does not matter. So its not about the number of sessions you attend, its about living in and learning from, each of those sessions. And of course the people you meet, play an important role in shaping your experience. Its the only way you can make your stay meaningful and journey memorable!

So, my next post would be on my personal top 7 moments from COP18.

:-)

Wait for it......