No One Said It'd Be Easy: A Guide to Activism At the Cancun Climate Summit

Jess Leber is Change.org's environment editor and is writing from COP-16 in Cancun this week, where 193 nations are meeting in their yearly attempt to forge a new international treaty to tackle the global warming crisis.

Organized activism is never easy—but the way the U.N. climate talks are set up in Cancun this week, the challenge of making the "public's" voice heard inside the closed doors of the negotiating room is even larger than usual.

Whereas last year's negotiating sessions in Copenhagen took place in an accessible urban location right next to a train station, this year's involve a series of shuttle buses and security checkpoints that prevent any citizens or would-be activists from getting anywhere near the Moon Palace, the resort center where the talks are being held. Even non-profit organizations registered with the conference are relegated to holding their events and setting up their booths in a second conference facility about 6 kilometers away.

Plus, on the first day, the road to climate progress was literally a humongous traffic jam.

As one climate activist with the group Tcktcktck told me, "When you have to ask their permission first to hold a demonstration, what is this really accomplishing?" Journalists, for their part, aren't thrilled so far either. At a press conference on the first day, one reporter drew applause when he questioned the Mexican delegation about why the facility's media center in the Moon Palace is yet another shuttle bus ride away from the actual talks.

Logistics aside, over the course of these two weeks, there is some awesome activism going on both inside and around this conference, and for that matter, all over the world. Hundreds of environmental groups are represented here. Below is a roundup of some recent and upcoming event highlights:

Mexico Mobilizes:

Organized by La Via Campesina and partner groups, three caravans for climate justice started off in San Luis Potosi, Guadalajara, and Acapulco and will meet in Mexico City today, to join a mass protest for environmental and social justice. After making their voice heard in Mexico's capitol, they will continue on their bus journey to Cancun, where they will be joined on December 3 by more protesters coming from Oaxaca and Chiapas.

Thousands of Cancuns:

Once in Cancun, La Via Campesina and its allies will hold a counter-summit—the “Alternative Global Forum for Life and Environmental and Social Justice”, December 3-8—and a mass mobilization of peasants, indigenous and social movements on December 7.  Concurrently, thousands of people around the world will create "thousands of Cancuns" to denounce what the group calls the "false" climate solutions being promoted at the official talks. Check this list to find an event in your region.

Bike Ride To Cancun:

The Climate Reality Tour is two activists on a "movement-building bike expedition" starting from West Virginia's coalfields all the way past the Mexican border and all the way to Cancun. They plan to arrive for the alternative summit next week, and their latest update puts the pair in Mexico City. Follow them on their blog, and donate to their ride and to their cause.

Take the White House By Storm: If you live in the Washington, D.C., you can show up in person as activists deliver a petition to the White House on Wednesday, December 1st, telling President Obama to keep his pledges to help raise funds for the poorest nations to cope with climate change. If you live anywhere, you can also participate helping 1Sky take the White House by Twitter storm tomorrow. Follow this page to Tweet at the White House.

Greenpeace Games:

Greenpeace is doing what it does best, which is causing an an informative—and daring—ruckus. It floated a hot air balloon with the message "Rescue the Climate" over the ancient Mayan ruins in Chichen Itza earlier this week, and, as one representative of Greenpeace International told me, very likely has more good stuff in store for the next two weeks. He didn't want to spoil the surprise yet.

Greenpeace is also calling on delegates to "walk more, talk less," and has outfitted some with pedometers to check the ground they are covering at the talks this week.

Activists Occupy Brussels:

Fifteen climate activists from Climate Justice Action held a sit-in on Monday at the offices of the International Emissions Trading Association in Brussels yesterday, hanging a banner that read "Our climate is not your business."

A Pyramid of Hope:

Tcktcktck erected a "pyramid of hope" earlier this week using the symbolic buildings blocks of a safe climate deal, and the head of the U.N. climate process, Christiana Figueres, added the cornerstone at the end.

Say a Prayer:

Wearing white, parishioners of more than 500 Cancun churches and other religious institutions will gather in front of Cancun's city hall later today to say a prayer for progress in the climate negotiations. Let's hope they say it strong.

A Climate Art Exhibit:

The last few weeks have brought us planetary-scale art projects organized by 350.org and its partners. This is all about making a statement, and these citizen artists have truly proved that a picture really does say 1,000 words. Check out the amazing photos here.

The Fossil of the Day Awards:

Each day of the conference, as in previous conferences, CAN International will be awarding the "fossil of the day" award to the country that does the most to hold up negotiation progress that day. On Day 1, Canada is the runaway winner, taking the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place slots, largely for recently killing its Climate Change Accountability Act. Way to go Canada!

Whew, and all of this is what I've found out about on the first day of the conference. There's sure to be more important ways you can continue to make your voice heard, whether you are in Cancun or not. Grassroots voices matter, otherwise we could have national leaders just "agree to disagree" at these talks (there is even speculation of a U.S. walkout).

We need leaders to know that people are demanding more.  And anyway, who needs a special conference pass to make activism go viral?

Photo credit: Courtesy of Greenpeace/Prometeo Lucero