I think all of us are still in a bit of shock about how COP15 actually went down. We’ll be reporting more in the new year, but for now would like to say that manning the booth and dealing with the lines at the Bella Center left little time to blog as we had hoped.

For now, here are some pictures of the booth, including the ribbons we handed out that are a Brazilian tradition. Please note the banner of signatures from York students under the exhibit booth. We’ve also got a shot of the mural that we brought from an FES popular education class!

Today at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP15, in Copenhagen, Tuvalu, a small Polenisian island nation, won the first ever “Ray of the Day” award, which will be given for actions that substantially advance the negotiations. The Ray of the Day is a new award given by the Fossil of the Day Awards that conversely decorate the country with the worst performance for the talks. Canada has already won four Fossil award, when counting the two targeted at industrialized countries; how disappointing!

Anyway, Tuvalu won the Ray of the Day for proposing that the plenary session discuss transparently a legally binding amendment to the Kyoto Protocol: that the treaty require countries to keep temperature rises to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Tuvalu is one of the islands that will be affected first by rising sea levels due to climate change.