The full poem that captured day 1 of the DC Days Conference in Paris - written by Fleur Monassa, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre (RCRCCC). Find out more in 'Inspired ideas for presenting your conference outcomes'.
Development & Climate Days Conference, 2015
Day 1
The Development and Climate Days
Producing optimistic take-aways.
Through applied improvisation, co-creation,
short-turn taking, we will be shaking, we will be breaking.
Breaking all conventional silo-ed styles
Bringing forth our ideas on transformational trials
Robust strategies, applying new technologies
With innovated partnerships, networks and companies.
In search for the deep transitional solutions,
moving ahead, despite the Paris conclusions.
World Bank and ODI trying to make us see
How many people can fall straight back into poverty
By lack of a climate lens in development
Scrutinizing each obstacle and impediment.
With the poor on top of the ‘Shock Wave’
if like this we continue to behave.
Equity at the heart of each of our discussions
Calling upon the wealthy to ratchet down emissions
Our energy consumption is to go down.
But for the poorest, energy access is yet to be found.
We heard a strong plea,
to not only use the apocalyptic argument,
Especially if we mean business on the African continent
Business as a dividend to humanity
Combining the wins with efforts of eradicating poverty.
A Declaration on coal we easily drafted
Although much more painful to get the answer crafted
To our hypothetical neighbour who lost his job in mining
Let our sympathy for those not be declining.
Calling for Deep deep deep decarbonisation
Deep transition, deep uncertainty and climate information.
In short,
a day full of solution driven topics with compelling pitches
Addressing good practice and their challenging glitches
City learning labs and examples with a business lens
With games we saw more emotions than in all of the entire COP side events.
Lastly we learned that
big white beards stimulate radical adaptation
And bring intriguing links with
social protection and migration.
So - In search of poverty eradication
Options of decarbonisation
In search of in energy transition
And much higher levels of ambition
In search of the R-Factor appeal
All in all - in search to further catalyse a Paris deal.