COP19 – Warsaw, Poland

The Indian Minister for Environment and Forest, Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan gave a press conference on India’s position in COP19. Sister Jayanti and Golo Pilz were invited by the Indian Ambassador in Poland, Mrs. Monika Kapil to attend, even though this press conference was for press only. They were accompanied by Aneta Loj and Sonja Ohlsson.

Sr Jayanti was invited to participate in this press briefing which included an opening statement from the Deputy Minister from the Phillipines. Sister Jayanti spoke of the importance and power of silence and the need to develop awareness and value for human dignity.

Every morning, the international group makes a 30 minutes long power walk through the old town of Warsaw to the Smolna meditation center. There they have their daily briefing sessions on the activities of the day. Tuesday will be a busy day…

World Climate Ltd arranges a yearly two-day business forum in connection with the Climate Change Conferences. For the first time they gave five tickets free to selected NGOs in order to fulfil their statement of collaborating with civil society. From the Brahma Kumaris, Francois Becher, Sonja Ohlsson, Nonie Reaño, Aneta Loj and Golo Pilz participated.

This cold and winter-like Sunday in Warsaw finished with a Roman Catholic Mass for the climate in the Cathedral Basilica of the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. It was the first time in the recent Polish history that an orthodox and a protestant priest participated together in a Roman Catholic ecumenical prayer.

Sister Jayanti (Brahma Kumaris) gives a refreshing insight into how our attitudes and how we live can be changed to help make the world a much better place for all of us to live in. The interview by the UNFCCC climate studio can be seen here.

Golo Pilz was invited to present about India One and the use of solar energy in India. The Chair of the Environmental Protection and Management at the Faculty of Environmental Engineering introduced Golo and welcomed more than 20 interested students and lecturers.

COP19 (14/11/13) – Golo Joachim Pilz, Director of the Solar Research Institute in India, believes it is important to practically demonstrate alternative clean energy generation.
The Institute has undertaken 25 research projects in cooperation with the German and Indian governments focusing on solar steam generation systems for cooking and independent power generation.
Renewable energy can often be inconsistent so he highlights the need for systems that are able to store energy.
His organisation has found an innovative way to store the energy and he goes into some detail about the system they use. He hopes that this system will be replicated for small to medium scale energy storage projects in the future.

I care is the Polish slogan for COP19. For the Brahma Kumaris delegation, Thursday the 14th Nov. it became a continuation of the slogan – I care and I share. A press conference took place, along with interviews with the Climate Change Studio, a public talk in the evening, and a number of meetings.

The second and third day of COP19 proved to be two days of intense networking, especially for the two best networkers in our delegation – Juan Milling and Valeriane Bernard. The youth group and interfaith group are very active, they share very strong hopes for the future. Our press release got ready and there were some very interesting interviews.

Climate Change negotiations are grounded in the values of UNFCCC, such as equity and cooperation. Nevertheless, adherence to these values is sometimes weakened by national interests. We consider the crucial role of systemic and beneficent thinking in ensuring our transition to a sustainable world.

The opening day of COP19 has been one of great concern in that the typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines has devastated the country. The lead negotiator from the Philippines gave a passionate, emotional speech at the beginning of the 19th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP19) on Monday. After his speech, Mr. Sano said: “It is always hard to attribute a single weather event to climate change, but we know that the science is also clear that climate change will mean more intense typhoons, potentially. And even if we cannot attribute Haiyan to climate change directly, my country refuses to accept a future where super-typhoons become a regular fixture.”

United Nations 19th Conference on Climate Change is taking place in Warsaw Poland from Monday 11th to Friday 22nd November 2013. For the Brahma Kumaris it is the 6th COP (Conference of the Parties) to participate in as an observer organization. At this Warsaw gathering, world leaders will work towards developing a climate initiative to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Participants intend for the new plan to be operational by 2020.

Brahma Kumaris have issued a press release for immediate use.

What is needed is a profound shift in awareness to transform the quality of the conversation and action among stakeholders: we need to recognize that our preferences and behaviors shape our actions. Real change must begin – and be sustained – in the minds and hearts of human beings.

Wednesday 20th November 11.00 hrs – 13.30 hrs

Climate negotiations are grounded in UNFCCC values such as equity and co-operation but are weakened by narrow interests. This panel considers the crucial role of systematic and holistic thinking and the principles of imternmational law, human rights and inter-generational equity in the transition to a sustainable world.

Thursday 14th November 18.00 – 20.00

– Address: Związek Nauczycielstwa Polskiego, Warsaw, Smulikowskiego 6/8

Harmony is synonymous with inner peace and balance, which give feelings of happiness. How can we maintain our inner harmony in the face of negativity? Guest speaker: Jayanti Kirpalani, Director of the Brahma Kumaris for Europe and the Middle East and spiritual leader and an emissary for peace for the last 45 years. Proceeded by: Duśka Markowska Resich.

Tuesday 19th November 18.00 – 20.00

Address: The Meditation Gallery, Smolna 11 Str. 8a (1st floor), intercom No. 88, 00-375 Warsaw

Guest speaker: Golo Pilz, Director of the Solar Research Institute in Rajasthan, has played a key role over the past 20 years in establishing the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University as one of the major developers of renewable energies in India

On 3rd December, Valériane Bernard, of Brahma Kumaris, was interviewed in Lima at the COP 20 conference by Vilde Blix Huseby of Vårt Land (Our Land), a Christian based newspaper distributed across Norway.