I have always been much focused on the social and inspirational aspects of the talks about the COP15 and Climate Change in general. Sometimes, people think I am very sentimental for these matters but I pledge for the right to inspire people and alert them that hope is necessary. In addition, for me blogging is a way to spread hope to everyone, whether if we're discussing Climate Change or any other issue. Investing in hope is much more rewarding than throwing meaningless words out of our mouths. Investing in blogs is to keep nurturing hope with personal perspectives on the world.

In my experience at Global Voices, as an author and translator, I have become more aware of the challenges that many communities face in different parts of the world, especially when it comes to the environment. What is interesting is that many times people use blogs to raise awareness on an issue or punctual problems they are facing and that although blogging for a political change is not some of these bloggers main goal, their blogs allow them to voice out their dreams, hopes and perspectives on different topics in different moments of their lives. To the wide conversation of climate change much is the contribution of blogs and communication technologies.

What also frustrates me is that blogging has become synonymous with inflammatory commentary over political discussions regarding the Climate Change talks. Many experts in the topic are rising and showing their acid and bitter opinions. In addition, to considerate other aspects of Climate Change and to do practical things to fight it are not in some bloggers and journalists' agenda. That makes me sad, because as individuals who have dreams and resources for fighting for a better life, we should help sharing these dreams with others and give them the tools to do the same. Instead, we moan.

Please let’s not only discuss whether President Barack Obama presence in Copenhagen is relevant or how much we should pay for adapting our cities for the Climate Change or even whether developing nations should not be  made responsible for this big issue. Because of that, we nefariously forget that far away in a beach in Bali or in a slum in Mumbai there may have a family whose dreams might be in danger because of Climate Change and more importantly, because of climate injustice. For them, the COP15 is much more than politics; it is a slice of hope and a chance for humanity to look over their other fellow human beings, who, like it or not, are our brothers and sisters.

What I'm trying to say is that we could use those stories of ordinary families to alert ourselves on the urgency of this matter instead of waste our time in talks with no political improvement. We must make plans for ourselves and for our local communities instead of waiting solely on the decision making of world leaders. But there is a problem in this kind of conversation. We are too busy shouting at each other about who needs to reduce the CO2 emissions and jumping to egoistic conclusions, that we have completely forgotten what we are doing is trying to perpetuate life… and love.

Yes, it is all about life and love. Politics and business are subterfuges of a current way of life in which we have forgotten the real value of life itself. This certain way of life suggests consumerism and less expectation of the little things that could fill us with joy, instead giving us the fake sensation that more means better. This love is represented in the inter-generational love, in the love for our family members, in the love for ourselves; and why not for those who you never met before? You see, it is not difficult to feel empathy for people in suffering or people in need. That proves we can love anyone regardless of distance or whether we know them or not.

We have to become craftsmen of our lives, and build networks of inspiration which will certainly help us constructing the world we want to live in: a beautiful place, clean and free of pollution. Maybe then, if we have that in mind, a failure of the COP15 won’t be a big deal. The important thing is to set goals and make everyone in the world aware of the situation and, after that, to continue our awareness work and start practical and participative actions to change village by village, city by city, and government by government.

Of course it is going to be really nice if we succeed in Copenhagen, but a legally bounding and ambitious agreement is only the beginning. To attend the needs of the populations should be the first and foremost subject in the COP15, and although we obviously know that this is not quite the way everything works we should try and give a chance to this very brief moment in human history. The outcome of it and the words spoken by the representatives of the world’s nations have to be internalized by humankind in a sense of spreading responsibility and empathy to someone who is likely to suffer the upcoming effects of Climate Change. 

Never mind the climategate and the skeptics. I am sure there might be many bloggers and other individuals representing their communities during the COP15. For me this is more important than climategate and any other climate deniers’ arguments. I personally believe that the presence of these bloggers (and journalists), NGO activists and advocates who fight against climate change means that there is still hope amid the population.

To be heard is important, and I won’t belittle the relevance of the delegates in the COP15, but I see in ordinary people like me or any other blogger in this competition a more realistic opportunity of changing the world than I have ever seen in presidents or prime ministers of any nation in the world. Why? Because we are not worried about getting voted in the next elections, neither how much we're going to loss in business agreements. We just want to be happy and be able to live our lives. Will COP15 help us doing that? OK. If it doesn't, we’ll find a better way, it is just a matter of hope.

Finally, I bring you the opening video of this morning meeting in the COP15. The video is very short and, although some say it is propaganda, it highlights the expectations and challenges that might be present in future discussions on the environment for the next two weeks and for the next years.