Taking Community to COP24 - David Garrow
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Thursday, December 13th, 2018
I am not supposed to
be here.
By
here, I mean at COP24 in Katowice, Poland. I am an Indigenous youth in Canada
with a father from Akwesasne and a mother from Sagamok First Nation. I grew up
in Peterborough and Ottawa with four older brothers. Growing up I’ve had a lot
of struggles to keep up with the standard Canadian education system. It’s put
me back in a lot of ways but I’ve learned to creatively think about ways to
improve oneself. So, that is what I’ve done by joining Canada Service Corps.
I
believe that wherever people are from they have a unique story to tell. These
stories enable us to understand and gain perspective. I fell in love with my
Canada Service Corps organisation, Apathy is Boring, because it’s exactly that.
It’s passionate youth volunteering to invoke the change they want to see. That
passion has afforded me the opportunity to be a United Nations Association in
Canada delegate to COP24.
At
this conference I am surrounded by leaders impassioned by protecting our
environment, our lands, and our way of life. As an Indigenous that feels a deep
connection to land, I feel hope for the first time in a while. The other
Indigenous people from all over the world are being listened to and taken
seriously as partners.
Last
year, Fiji launched the Talanoa Dialogue. In Fiji ‘talanoa’ means to have
conversations in an inclusive, receptive space. It seeks to eliminate the climate
deadlock by drawing participants closer together through sharing their stories
of climate change. This year the launching of the official adoption of Local
Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform paves way for greater recognition
and partnership with Indigenous people. There is still much more to do but the
first steps to becoming more inclusive have been taken.
I
am in full support of Indigenous, Canadian and worldwide leadership in
accomplishing an ambitious but incredibly needed Paris Agreement Rulebook
that will enable us to reach our worldwide goal of a temperature increase of
less than 1.5 degrees by 2050. Whether that is successful through policy makers
and leadership negotiations is unknown. But I am hopeful.
With
my wonderful team here at COP24 representing United Nations Association in
Canada, I intend to bring back the knowledge and connections gained to non-believers,
those on the fence, and even believers of climate change. I also know, I now
have a greater responsibility to be a louder voice with not only my indigenous
communities but those I work with in Nunavut. Having not grown up on the land,
I’ve listened to those that have in regards to the environment but I am
confident I have a story to tell from my short but life changing experience
here in Katowice.
The
people of Poland have gone through many countless wars and invasions, yet they
remain. I can’t speak to our current outlooks on the world but I can identify
with their spirit of being resilient and relentless. It’s that spirit we will
need to mobilize our message of the urgency we are all facing.
We
are at a defining moment now and in the next few years that will determine
human fate. We have a choice to listen and act upon the worlds brightest, we
can unite, and together we can be louder than the loudest voices looking to
divide us. If were are going to make it, there’s only one path, and that is
being on the side of facts, honesty and unity.
I
am supposed to be here, we are all supposed to be here.
Miigwetch,
David
David Garrow is Anishinaabe and
Haudenosaunee living in Ottawa, ON. David is a
Canada Service Corps volunteer and Mentor to Apathy is
Boring’s RISE Ottawa program. David is interested in the effects of climate
change with Indigenous people’s connection to the land. He
is currently in Katowice, Poland attending COP24 with UNA-Canada as a UNA-Canada
Service Corps delegate.
