It’s chilly and wet in Nairobi, which is good because rain is long overdue in Kenya. The conference is in a large, shiny UN centre. It feels like being in a goldfish bowl and, like fish, the delegates seem to move in large shoals and break off to negotiate discreetly in corners.
There are already several hundred people here and the conference is getting into full swing. Government delegations are rubbing shoulders with charities, journalists and thinktanks.
There’s a sense of purpose in the air.
And there needs to be, because over the next two weeks this conference will either agree that the world’s governments are going to cut carbon emissions quickly, or they will decide to delay; they will agree to provide more money to help poor communities adapt to climate change, or they’ll squabble and put that off too. As Tearfund staff, our job is to persuade them to make the right decisions.
We had an amazing send-off on Saturday at the I Count rally in London. A great day. Some 25,000 people gathered in Trafalgar Square to show the UK government that there’s huge public demand for tackling climate change.
The whole day was inspiring, but had three high-points for me.
The first was the moment of event organiser’s bliss when you realise that people are actually going to turn up – I went into St Martin in the Fields before the church service and saw the place was rammed and all 750 seats were full.
Photo: Layton Thompson/Tearfund
The second was a moment of pride watching a long column of Tearfund placards reading, ‘Climate change hits the poorest hardest’ snaking their way slowly down the church steps and over into Trafalgar Square.
And the third was the feeling of momentum, hearing the friendly but passionate roar of the crowd filling the square as they responded to acts like Razorlight as well as to Bishop James Jones.
Now can we build on that momentum in these rather more decorous surroundings? Stay tuned to find out …
Please pray: that Tearfund staff will quickly make good links with key individuals from the UK, EU and developing countries