P.J. Partington — Dec. 17, 2009

Yesterday I turned 24 at the Bella Centre.

While somewhat unconventional as far as birthday celebrations go, I can't think of a more meaningful way to spend the day than fighting for a fair, ambitious and legally binding global climate deal.

The reason is captured in the thousands of youth here at the conference whose t-shirts bear the simple question: "How old will you be in 2050?"

Youth delegate Janice Grey-Scott of Nunavik speaks to Japanese media during a sit-in at the Bella Centre.

I will be 65.

What will I be telling my grandchildren for the umpteenth time, as their parents roll their eyes? Will it be a story of the time - that one, historical moment - when the world decided, irrevocably, to act together? About when Canadians and others around the world transformed our moral responsibility into true leadership and the whole of our capacity into global opportunity?

Or will it be a story of what could have been? A story about a challenge that was just too hard; of nations, peoples and generations simply too expensive to protect?

Whichever it is, the outlines will be set in ink here in Copenhagen. As the President of the Maldives put it yesterday: "If we don't come to an agreement in the next 24 hours we may well be doomed. I hope very much that is not what we are contemplating." 

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