Thursday December 9

The second to last day of the COP has been long and probably much more eventful than I'm aware of.  I am currently waiting for a stock-taking plenary to start (it was meant to begin an hour ago).  I was just told that they will probably convene for just a few minutes, say that not enough progress has been made, and then split up to continue work intermittently throughout the night.
I started my day in a plenary also, in which heads of state were making speeches about their country's position.  But that was rather repetitive and I was getting frustrated from sitting still for so long so I went with Syd (another SustainUS delegate) to a table outside where we had wireless and fresh air.
Then I began a struggle to find the drafting session about the "Shared Vision" text.  It was not in the program but I had a feeling that they would meet again today and finally received an email from the Climate Action Network with the room where it was being held.  So I rushed to that room, not really knowing why since I knew it would be closed.  I was SO grateful to be able to hand out leaflets with suggested edits to the text regarding the gigatonne gap and the importance of ambitious commitments.  I approached delegates as they rushed into the meeting.  This was my first experience lobbying and the closest I have come to personally making a difference (though the text did not contain elements from our document).  At least I tried.  Perhaps a few of them will read the information and they will be aware of the stance of civil society.
(An ongoing question for me and many other youth delegates is how to be most effective here at a COP.  I am sometimes jealous of Lindsay's predetermined responsibility which is so admirable and influential.  As a policy-focused SustainUS delegate, I have generally been working independently trying to follow the policy, but it has been more of a learning experience than one with impact.)
I then headed to a press conference with the Mexican environmental minister and a member of the secretariat about the success of youth with Article 6.  I don't know if I mentioned this last week, but at one of the first contact groups (small working groups on a specific text) delegates passed a text, including passages drafted by youth, about the importance of informal education and raising public awareness.  This text reached consensus in one 90 minute session- apparently a record for the Subsidary Body on Implementation.  Now the text will be brought to a plenary and will hopefully be approved and become a COP decision.
I'm still waiting for this plenary to start....