The Road to Paris
What unites the people in these photographs is that they are fiercely committed to finding a way to do both the best for the planet as a whole and the best for the constituencies they represent. I am very very lucky to witness that. My hope is to make a little of all this visible - because if we remember what binds us together, in the end we cannot fail.
Thanks to all those who let me take their picture and gave me a quote. I would like to have included many hundreds more in this gallery but could't because they were too modest or because they were too busy negotiating. Or because they are no longer with us. This gallery is dedicated to their memories, and to the memories of Nicola Loffler and my mother. I hope they smile whenever they recall the 12th of December, wherever they are.
(Instagram: #climatenegotiators)
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "For sustainability", Abdullah, Saudi Arabia
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange? | Because any other issue that is important, beautiful or inspiring – from peace, poverty alleviation and equity, to human rights, gender equity and health, to our rainforests, wildlife and coral reefs – depends on winning this fight", Cleo, Climate Action Network
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Nature makes us humble, and the unity of us could create a miracle" - Yongxiang, #China
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "At this point and time, the question should be: why are you not fighting against climate change? The global temperature is rising, the future of our planet is at stake and we are the last generation that can fight climate change. Being in a position to do something about it is both a privilege and a responsibility" - Isabel, #CaboVerde
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because we are the first generation to be aware of this problem, and the last that will be able to resolve it. And also because I have in mind, and at heart, the stories and the faces I have encountered in recent months while preparing the Conference. In Bangladesh, an old lady, tired and dignified, who has had to move nine times because of flooding, asked if COP21 would change that. In the far North, I have in mind the engineer who showed me the devastating collapses of the ice pack and their consequences. In Cochabamba, a Bolivian peasant farmer cried over the damage caused by failure to look after Mother Earth, hoping he could trust us. And in Africa, there was a young woman – for women and the poor are the first victims – who described the spectacular drying up of Lake Chad and its dreadful consequences" - Laurent, #COP21 President
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "I do picture that if twenty years from now I am still around and I've got some grandkids, I want to be able to take my grandson or granddaughter on a walk to the park and know that the planet is in pretty good shape. And I want to feel like I contributed to that. That will be a pretty good legacy" – Barack Obama, #POTUS | #COP21 #ActOnClimate # UNFCCC #Paris2015
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because Earth is a great place to live" - Andrew, #Australia
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because this is our home" - Thom (right), #MarshallIslands
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Out of curiosity really. I've been wondering – is the human species really worthy of ruling over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground? Or was it all a big design flaw from day six?" - Cyril, #EU
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because it's fascinating to be part of the multilateral response to the most important challenge of our time, with a view to safeguarding the rights of the most vulnerable" - Geert, #Belgium
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because if you save Tuvalu you save the world" - Enele, #Tuvalu, #PrimeMinister
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Why am I in the fight? Someday I want to look my children and my grandchildren in the face and say that I did everything I could to keep climate change from destroying all that is beautiful in the world" - Kate, #USA
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because it matters. Because multilateralism is necessary - and works!" - Kristine, #EU
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Years ago NGOs gave me a keyring that says "Lead Or Go Home". I have done my best to engage and bring a contribution, even if a little one" - Loredana (centre), #Italy
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "I'm in the fight against climate change because I want a future and I believe in transgenerational justice. While I think that we cannot leave to future generations a world like ours, at least I would like to work as hard as possible for solutions based on dialogue and international cooperation. Above all, I have faith" - Pilar, #Argentina transgenerational justice. While I think that we can not leave to future generations a world like ours, at least I would like to work as hard as possible for solutions based on dialogue and international cooperation. Above all, I have faith" - Pilar, #Argentina
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because I am committed to seeking solutions , to making progress together. To progress that makes, me and you, citizens of the same globe, proud of our planet, proud of the United Nations." - Johanna, #Sweden
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "My first encounter with a "COP" was in 2009, I sort of stumbled upon it as a rookie diplomat. Year by year, I loved and hated these massive events. Why was I involved? How couldn't I be?! New York, once thought of as an invincible city, was crippled by Sandy. In Guatemala, my home country, recurring floods and droughts have left hundreds dead. All of us, in our personal lives, have already witnessed the impacts of climate change. All scientific studies show that we are reaching a point of no return if we don't change. Being part of the negotiations is my way of contributing to the needed transformation. Happy to be part of the "climate revolution". If all of us do our part we can limit global temperature below the 1.5/2 degrees threshold" - Jimena, #Guatemala
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because I have been doing it all my life" - John, #USA
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because the more you know about it, the more you understand that we must urgently change our growth model, our fossil fuel based economy, our behaviour, our silo thinking and the short termism in politics...No other policy area is as fascinating, complex and at the same time important to solve. Now!" - Connie, #EU
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "I am doing this for a small little boy called Andrew who will live with this global challenge for his whole life - I have no choice but to act" - Sandea, #SouthAfrica
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because the moment I realised what it means, my stomach tightened, my breath shortened and the skin on my neck was burning. Pure fear. And now... because witnessing hundreds of humans from 195 countries strive for mutual understanding and make promises to each other, is enough to bring me to tears" - Chloe, #CartagenaDialogue
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because it really matters" - Luiz, #Brazil
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "It started off as a concern for the environment and has become an interest in how we will manage to foster the collective interest" - Frederic, #COP21 Presidency
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "As often in life: by chance an by passion" - Francesco, #Italy
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Disruption of our only climate system can be avoided through unified and sustained determination by all actors. Facilitating convergence around this global vision is my passion" - Halldor, #UNFCCC
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because I believe in multilateralism and I truly think that international environmental law plays a key role in fighting Climate Change" - Jimena, #Colombia
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "For our children" - Alejandro, #Mexico
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "For my daughter Alba" - Vera, #Spain
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because it is every person's responsibility towards all that live on Earth. We are all on the same planet, part of the same thread of life" - Isabel, #Colombia
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "I am in the fight against climate change in order to save the planet. I can think of no more inspiring or meaningful occupation than to apply my professional skills in the interest of saving the planet and contributing to making the world a better place" - Martin, #Sweden
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "For a better world. For a sustainable world" - Daniel, #Ecuador
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Protecting the earth from negative effects of climate change directly relates to saving human lives. I have committed to improving the state of human health. Fighting against climate change means healthy lives for people as well as for nature" - Tamayo, #Japan
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "A sense of responsibility for those who can't come to the table and a debt with future generations" - Juan, #Bolivia
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because I want to feel I did good when I look in my child's eyes, years from now" - Pedro, #Portugal
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because not many jobs give you the possibility to make a difference for the planet's future AND to travel around the world while making friends AND to learn so many new acronyms!" - B'iste, #France
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because I made the promise to my daughter that I would protect the Earth... and the pandas! And I'm convinced historians will say, one day, that the 21st century really began in 2015" - David, #COP21 Presidency
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "For the world's children,
including my own" - Manfred, #Austria
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because we need 1.5 to survive" - Colin, #SolomonIslands
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because it is worth fighting for what we love - people and planet!" - Carole, #Luxembourg
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because it's 2015" - Catherine, #Canada
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "I come from the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The Marshall Islands are on average 2 meters above sea level but many parts of the islands are barely a meter above the sea. Maybe you have seen it in media but there is one picture that has been spreading all over the media of Majuro, the capital atoll of the Marshall Islands, being flooded and it is of the graves in the ocean side being flooded. That picture there, that is my hometown. I have seen the water rise above the seawall in my backyard and seen it flooding my grandparents and ancestors graves. This fight against climate change is very, very important to us islanders. I am here because I want to show solidarity to my Marshallese delegates because we need all the support we can get. We need 1.5°C and we are fighting for that. If possible, lower than 1.5°C. Very ambitious, I know. But bigger countries, because of their strive for development, our, we islanders, well-being was forsaken, and so I believe it is time that we are recognised" - Selina, #MarshallIslands
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "A defeat in this struggle would result in a World which will continue to exist, though changed in a sinister way. The irony is that the main victim would be life itself, which was derived from that same World and destroyed by one of its own lifeforms - Mankind" - Kishan, #Trinidad&Tobago
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because we have children" - Vivian, #Singapore
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because we worked in Cancún to restore trust in the multilateral process and we are now working in Paris to deliver an ambitious legally binding agreement" - Luis Alfonso, #Mexico
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Climate Change is the quintessential challenge for my generation. It was back in 1996, as the Kyoto Protocol negotiations were underway, that I realised the centrality of climate change in public policy. After much promise in Europe in the last decade, and widespread abandon elsewhere, there's today a somewhat new sense of global engagement rooted on national action. Let's hold our breaths for the sake of our children, if for nothing else" - Nuno, #Portugal
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "I do this for my wife and my kids. I do this for my family and for my friends. I do it for everyone who comes here and knocks themselves out with little food and no sleep. I do it for the world - we need to make this happen. And that's a terrible photo by the way. I don't have that many chins" - Stephen, #NewZealand
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "Because I like my nephews!" - Camilla, #Ecologic
"Why are you in the fight against #climatechange?" | "I am in the fight against climate change because I have two daughters who to me represent everyone’s sons and daughters. Our generation is the first to fully understand the impacts of climate change today and the potential impacts tomorrow. Our generation has the responsibility to hand over to the next generation a risk diminished, a world improved, an opportunity expanded" - Christiana, #UNFCCC