I was very honored when the International Youth Delegation asked me to present the Youth Statement on Energy before the entire UN and offical delegates this past Wednesday. After three days sitting around a laptop in a cafe near the WSSD conference center with 5 to 15 young people who are incredibly passionate and knowledge but from very divergent backgrounds, we we able to draft a text that was visionary and got straight to the point that all the countries have failed the youth!

Jan Pronk, the same man that chaired the Kyoto negotiations, facilitated the Energy planary. His style was like that of Phil Donahue. He ran around the floor fielding tough questions to get the real story from all of us on the floor. In addition to the youth representation, there was business, labor, women, indigenous peoples, etc.. representing all of the major groups. But Youth dominated the conversation proving that while we are young, we do know what we are talking about! After every comment I made, the strong youth presence in the audience cheered loudly, no one could ignore us!

Trying to be as professional and informed as possible, we focused the state on three points in the "plan of action" that has yet to be adopted. First, we demanded that they governments define clean energy as: wind, solar, wave and tidal, small hydro... youth would not put up with coal being defined as a form of clean energy. Second, we did not want the US delegation to once again undermine international efforts to put Kyoto in force. We made it very clear that the "plan of action" must keep Kyoto in. Finally, we called for the immediate phase-out of dirty energy subsidies and 20% of that money be funneled into a fund for clean renewable energy technology transfere for developing Nations.

Now that our opportunities to speak before the UN are over, the Greenpeace youth delegation, is moving on to Plan B and watching the official US delegation and reporting back to the rest of the world what mischeif they are up to!