Bergen Climate Change Conference | May 22nd - May 24th, 2021
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It was a lukewarm day. Mrs. Birdane already arrived at the city of Bergen a couple of weeks prior to help with the organization. She was also the representative of Alkharya as the president gave her full permission. She knew she could not run for a second term, as she had to return to her country to help with the peace talks, as well as the reconstruction of Northern Alkharya. Her country needed her.
Just before she leaves, she decided that she would finish another unfinished job of Juncker's: The Green New Deal. She had already negotiated where the conference would take place months prior: Mennrimiak. After all, where would one see climate change's effects better than a country where icebergs are melting? All she had to do was wait for others to come.
Background photo taken from here
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After the completion of the summit that she had attended, Mouri-Kudo decided to Mennrimiak and travel down to Bergen to attend the conference by renting a hotel-room in one of the good-quality hotels in the city. She made sure to tip the hotel establishment in apologies for the Secret Service Agents that were always around the hotel. When the day of the Conference came, she made sure to arrive on time for the events and dicussions that would be involved. She had high hopes for it, but question on how the other members of Europe would take the contents that would come out of it. She was sure Spain would be alright with it as she knew through watching of Spanish Political News Networks that the Spanish President was committed to increasing his nation's renewable energy. However, there might some nations that were more conservative that would not be of the same opinion.Nevertheless, she walked into the building of the conference where news networks of different leanings and nations were asking questions towards her especially on whether or not it would affect her recently passed Green Transition Act. She responded that she doubted it but she would not look past to see what more can be done for the environment through this conference.
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"Hello? Helloooooo? Hello? I think you're all on mute", Emperor Artabanos said as He started His video link from the Imperial Palace. "Yes, Münevver, lovely to see you -- I'm so sorry I couldn't attend in person. Busy busy, you know? I would've obviously loved to see the fabled landscapes of Mennrimiak, it's soo friendly people, and above all, Jean-Claude!"
The Emperor could then be seen pouring a glass of some brown-ish liquid and gulping the whole glass down. "Oh -- eh, I thought I'd turned my camera off then. Anyway, er, how's the weather there? Hasn't the year just flown by?"
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John Peter Key arrived on the SimplyFly flight from Cair Para to United Duchies. It wasn't full of thrills or service but it was green. Those 28inch seats helped and of course cheap. He'd have preferred not to use a jet but he had not choice. Once in Bergen he used the public transport from the airline to the hotel and took a bus to the conference. This probably wasn't to be expected of a leader of a country but when asked he said to the national press "We must lead by example if I am too good to use public transport so is everyone in the country. We cannot say one thing and do another." He walked in and talked to Birdane in his modest clothes. He did not like waste of money especially public money.He greeted Birdane and Artabonos chatting about life asking how things were.He was proud the flights had cost just 175 Euros per person including baggage.
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After the summit with Istkalen in Madrid and the tour around the West of Europe with stepovers in Nofoaga, Fremet and the very same Mennrimiak, it was time to go back to the Nordic country full of myths, forests and searching for interests in Spain. Aguilar was convinced the climate summit was a great idea, and Spain was giving huge steps towards renewable energy with all the possible alternatives but hydrogen, as it was impossible to work towards that direction. But, at the same time, he was worried about how extreme the agreement might be: on a side, you had those very conservative countries, like the Duxburian Union, which wouldn't care about Climate Change and say "it's not of our business"; and then you had the United Duchies, which were the opposite and proposed stricter measures in less time. Aguilar, of course, was intelligent enough to know that sticking to a moderate answer between the 2 sides was the right choice. Aguilar also had many questions concerning the summit itself: Would Reitzmag or the supposedly illegal Government of Istkalen attend? Would the summit itself be successful?
In other news, he was going to meet the Internal Affairs Commissioner, Münnever Birdane. Jesús knew that the Commission was there, but they weren't as active as last year. This was going to be the first Commission event of the whole term, with the election procedures starting in just 7 days. All the signs headed to the same direction: Birdane risked her prestige as Commissioner on this summit, and if not many countries attended, she would be remembered as the Commissioner that didn't do much for Europe. But the Spanish President was extremely optimistic and wanted to thought Birdane was going to have some success after all. The Falcon (name of the Spanish Presidential airplane) arrived in Bergen and the embassy motorcade was awaiting for the President. Once they arrived to the place where the summit would take place, Jesús Aguilar exited the car and he could hear some clapping coming from some Spaniards that were there. He approached to them and took some photos along with his countrymen before entering the room and greeting everyone there, one by one.
And talking about Commissioners, Jean-Claude Juncker was back. The Spaniard former Internal Affairs Commissioner and now the European Progressive Alliance's candidate for Premier Commissioner was just one week away from his campaign kickoff, and this event could help him to be back on the main pages of the newspapers or being the main focus of attention on some news programmes around Europe. Everybody knew Juncker and the European Union were close friends, and that could be proved easily in many countries just by asking some of its citizens. Now, Jean-Claude was expecting to see one of his ideas finished, the European Green Deal. That's why he decided to travel to Mennrimiak after the current Internal Affairs Commissioner, Münnever Birdane, invited him to the summit. He knew that if Simon Bridges decided to show up there, he wouldn't be so happy to see him, but on the other hand, he knew that Sauli Niniisto would now look at him with better eyes.
Juncker arrived to the summit place and greeted Birdane: "Münnever, how are you? It's a pleasure to be here, I know you have done a great job concerning the Green Deal and I hope you are lucky today in order to make it a reality in Europe." Then Juncker approached to the TV screen where Emperor Artabanos were: "Emperor Artabanos, such a pleasure to see you again, despite of the distance between us. You look really good today, how's everything going over there?" Asked Juncker, who spoke with Artabanos for a few minutes before heading towards the Leagioan President and new friend, Mouri-Kudo: "Mrs. Mouri-Kudo, it's nice to see you again. I have been following the latest news from Leagio and it seems you have had a busy week. I plan to go back to Leagio in one week or 2, it's always great to travel there. Is everything alright with the Government work" Asked Juncker. A few minutes later, he headed to Aguilar, with whom he had been talking the very same morning and to John Peter Key, to whom he spoke aswell: "Mr. Key, it's a pleasure to see you again. How's your family doing?"
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Anita had been attending the Nordic Summit hosted in Hannkkara, so it was a short trip for her to make it to the Bergen Conference. She had always hated being chauffeured around, and drove herself in the Statssikkerhet motorcade. The ferry from the mainland to Bremangerlandet brought breathtaking views of some of the most beautiful sights in the world— Old or New. She enjoyed the peace of long road trips, and felt refreshed upon arriving in Bergen.
The Miljøvernbyrå (MVB), Fremet's environment agency, had gathered and merged reports from pretty much every provincial and federal government department, and a mountain of colour-coded binders filled rear of the car. The MVB Director, Hilda Matthiessen, had joined her in Hannkkara and sat in the passenger seat during their journey. They were able to iron out a (somewhat) firm line for Fremetian policy that would mesh with the responsibilities of the Fremetian government.
Anita was apprehensive at the overall prospect of this meeting. She was concerned that Fremet's unique geopolitical stance and economic structure wouldn't be conducive to the more extreme measures proposed in the agreement, but she, her Staatsminister, and her President all thought it prudent that Fremet attend.
When she arrived, Anita surveyed the foray of various bureaucrats, politicians, government ministers, and aides and found a nice, quiet corner where she could watch the intermingling ensue.
Hilda had found a seat in the lobby, away from the commotion, and continued to pour over various reports from the Fremetian National Environmental Laboratory in Nordhavn.Anita felt a bit out of place among so many large figures on the broader European stage, but did her best to shake the feeling and made her rounds greeting those that had arrived before drawing back to chat with one of her aides about another upcoming meeting.
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Ikomar had gone directly from Spain to Bergen, taking commercial, no less. No point, of course, in returning. It would be difficult; but he would of course be able to manage it.Then followed a taxi ride to the meeting place. There was a bit of difficulty with security, and with proving that he was in fact the Head of State of the Republic of Istkalen; but that was gotten over with.
He greeted Birdane and the many heads of state present, and then turned inwards, to the task of negotiation.
The interests of Istkalen, and its peasantry and artisans - a sort of middle class, now - especially, of those who continued to dominate its society, would have to be fought for. The proposed agreement would through everything into chaos. The country was already under the pressure of paying for its energy - expensive, almost entirely nuclear - for the nurseries and the canteens and the housing and the clinics and the roads and so much more. The "middle class" had to be kept calm; all of this had come very close to enraging it. Democracy had very nearly become the last straw (too variable, apparently); transportation and reforesting would almost certainly push them over the edge.
He would have to resist. What else could he do, given the situation?
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Mr. Spiggen arrived on his private sailboat this morning, happy to have made it there alive. He had expected to arrive three days prior but was blown off course by the low pressure systems accompanying hurricane Adelaide. Luckily his suit was still dry, and more importantly he was still alive.
Mr. Spiggen's English translator also accompanied him.
After greeting many of the foreign leaders for the first time, Mr. Spiggen found an area to sit and look at the landscape of this new place.
He was elected Head Councillor because of his hope for Gadalland and Aspern to join the European Union and for his goal to meet the requirements of the Bergen Agreement.Many of the policies are not much of a concern as many citizens of Gadalland and Aspern live on sailboats, as motorised boats and single family homes are heavily taxed by the government because of their excessive pollution and energy consumption. Most of the mountainous islands in the Sertian Union (the six unions) are not conducive to building homes or flats.
Gadalland and Aspern's effective recycling rate is about 37%, which is something that is a cause for concern.
Mr. Spiggen intends to propose the Sertian Bergen Fund to give monetary yearly rewards to citizens for increased recycling or composting. He also intends to raise incentives on buying sailboats and fund research for electric boat engines.
After discussing this with someone, Mr. Spiggen goes back to the window to people-watch. -
Archbishop Mikaela Kligenberg made her way to Bergen, Mennrimiak, on her signature pink private jet. The Archbishop's private jet was large enough to fly at least 18 people - which was a must for the Archbishop, as she usually liked traveling in large company - but this time, the Archbishop was simply flying alone. The Archbishop made ample use of her large private space. The Archbishop got up from her large sofa-like seat, walked over to her personal bar, where she grabbed a plastic bottle full of mineral water from the small electric fridge, and then over to the window, where she peered outside.
Mikaela enjoyed the view from the window, and was thoroughly impressed with the great speed in which her jet was traveling. The fuel-guzzling turbojet engines were not letting the Archbishop down, and soon enough, she seated herself down again as her jet began its descent down to the airport.
"We are now beginning our circling approach," Captain Jimin, the Archbishop's personal captain, announced over the intercom.
Once the Archbishop's jet landed, she made her way to the front of her plane to thank Captain Jimin for another successful and safe flight.
"Thank you Jimin! As always, that landing with smooth like butter. I hope you'll be able to catch some rest," Mikaela commented with a smile as she prepared to deboard from the jet.
"No worries, it's my pleasure. I'm sure you're going to light the conference up like dynamite, whoa oh oh," Captain Jimin replied before gesturing a heart to the Archbishop using his fingers.
The Archbishop deboarded the plane, and was greeted on the tarmac by a large pink limousine and two security guards. The pink limousine could easily host upwards of 20 people, but the Archbishop would be occupying it by herself alongside her two security men. However, once the limousine made its way off the tarmac and onto the road, several large armoured-SUVs appeared and flanked the Archbishop's limousine on every side, in order to maximise security.
As the convoy made their way to the conference centre, for some reason, the limousine was running very low on fuel and needed to make an emergency stop at a nearby petrol station. The convoy pulled up to a nearby station and members of the security cleared the area to make sure it was safe. Once the area was cleared, the limousine pulled up to a petrol tank.
The Archbishop got out of the limousine and handed some money to the chauffeur. "Oh, don't worry, this is on me. Fill the tank right up!"
Mikaela then politely gestured to one of her security guards, and kindly asked them to come to her. "Would you mind going inside the shop and grabbing a snack and something to drink for me? I'm not picky, so pick anything T-B-H! Please also feel free to grab something for yourself and the others, I don't want you guys to be hungry too!" Mikaela requested before handing the guard some money.
After a few minutes, the guard returned with a protein bar and a juicebox for the Archbishop, because, apparently, she was a child. The Archbishop thanked her guard profusely and told him to keep the change. Mikaela unwrapped the protein bar and tossed the wrapper towards a nearby bin, but it missed and hit the ground. Mikaela then used the provided disposal plastic straw to sip from her juicebox. Mikaela took two sips from her drink before deciding that she was now full, and then handed the mostly-full juicebox to the guard. "Thank you so much, I'm stuffed! I'll need to track these calories immediately, so please excuse me!"
The Archbishop hopped back into the limousine and took out her phone. "Leading by example is so important," the Archbishop whispered to herself as she thought aloud. Mikaela took out her phone, and after tracking her calories, readied her phone's camera to take some selfies. The Archbishop posed for some selfies inside the limousine and then uploaded one of the more flattering shots onto Instagram. "Be the change YOU want to see in the world!" the Archbishop exclaimed, narrating the caption she added to her picture. "Protect the turtles of Nofoaga #GoGreen #SaveOurPlanet #ClimateCrisis", the Archbishop announced aloud.
After single-handedly ending the climate crisis on social media, the Archbishop's limousine and convoy started to move again and quickly began to approach the conference centre. As they were about to pull up to the destination, Mikaela caught a glimpse of herself in her phone's reflection and decided she wasn't yet ready. "Wait! I need to freshen up. Keep driving around until I'm ready. I'm so sorry!" Mikaela apologized from the back of the limousine.
The limousine and the entire security convoy then began to drive and circle around the entire block, several times over, as Mikaela got herself ready. The Archbishop spritzed herself with some pine-scented perfume, which was a made from an entire pine tree which was cut down just for the one bottle of fragrance. Mikaela applied some non-vegan cruelty-free-free make up, and played with her hair until everything was perfectly lined up. The Archbishop admired her clothes, which were far too formal and fancy for the occasion, but the Archbishop always preferred to be overdressed than underdressed. Besides, the factory workers who produced the dress deserved to have their craftsmanship admired, as well as the penal labourers from Czech Slavia who slaved away to gather its materials.
"Ok, I'm ready!" the Archbishop announced a full 15-minutes later. After completing yet another lap around the block, the limousine then finally pulled up to the building. Mikaela got out of the car and then walked inside the building. Once the Archbishop was directed to the right room, she could barely help herself from letting out a timid yet excited squeal.
Mikaela's main boys where attending the meeting, and she was very excited to see them all again. The Archbishop's favourite Commissioner, Jean Claude Juncker, was in attendance, as were Prime Ministers Agular and Niinistö. Mikaela's GBF, Emperor Artabanos, was also there via an internet connection. The Archbishop waved at all them enthusiastically.
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Zgeirtan in his future debate with a pro-UNSR tankieZgeirtan was just finishing his epic debate on his stream with Speaker Luzorgaz as he was reminded by his attendants that he had to start making his way to the Bergen Climate Change summit. Luzrogaz was totally destroyed in that debate by facts and logic. But Zgeirtan’s lefty arc of pwnage would have to wait a few days as he embarked on a mission to represent Ruthund in creating an accord to help combat climate change. Then he thought of an idea, and told his attendant.
“Bro, I should vlog this trip and upload it to my YouTube channel!” he said with eagerness.
“Lord Steward, how about we focus on getting to the plane. We are quite literally losing daylight.”
“Alright sure, but I'm bringing my streaming equipment so I can continue my next debate with that tankie tomorrow. Don’t want him to think I am backing away.”
The attendant sighed with a minor amount of annoyance. “OK, we’ll see to it Lord Steward. But right now, we need to make our way to the airport.”
And so they took off on a private jet. Zgeirtan was supposedly supposed to be rehearsing for his appearance when he arrived in Bergen, but it turned out he only could play Minecraft. Since they were traveling overseas, he couldn't play League of Legends, so he had to settle playing the Minecraft mod Tekkit on his way there. But that didn’t matter that he got little practice, Zgeirtan was a natural at this sorta thing. Besides, everyone knew he was a gamer. Eventually Zgeirtan was advised to sleep before the arrived in Bergen the next day. To everyone’s surprise, he took his attendants’ advice without any argument.
The jet arrived in Bergen soon after. It was only the third time Zgeirtan had been outside of Ruthund on official business, and the first time ever he heard of the word Mennrimiak. He thought the name of the country sounded cool. Before he had the chance to leave the airstrips, some of his attendants rushed to Zgeirtan’s side to give him his papers. “You almost forgot these Lord Steward. We have business to do once we get back to Ruthund, your pwnage of the Mutual Workers’ Party might have triggered them into breaking the coalition agreement.”
“Yeah whatever. Those people were always bad faith anyway.”
Zgeirtan, though sometimes really informal and optically irresponsible, managed to gather whatever discipline he could and made his way to the summit in a stately manner with a suit and a nice blue tie.
Upon arrival he greeted everyone, including the International Affairs Commissioner with a “Wassup.” And the proceeded to wait for others that might show up.
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The plane with Slavomíra Černá, a former prime minister of Czech Slavia, was getting closer to its destination, Bergen airport. This would be the last time in foreseeable future the last meeting of this kind she would attend, but she was not sad about it, in fact she was relieved. Just a few days back the president of Czech Slavia Albína Reiserová confirmed to her that she will be named an ambasador to Inquista! And although those were happy news about a very disarable job, the president announced to Černá very coldly, t was clear she was not very fond of her on a personal level, and this feeling was mutual. They really didn't understand each other.
Černá poured a bit of Vodka down her throat and thought about the changes that have happened to her Party. The issue, in her mind, layed in the fact that for Reiserová never became a public servant, she refused to learn about politics and the system, instead she brought to the system and the party what she knew, acting. She never became a president, she was a actress playing the role of president.
But even more tragic were the changes that, according to Černá's mind, Reiserová brought to the Party. From Černá's point of view, under her the Party functioned as it should, with delegates at conferences always taking an active role at crafting the party's strategy and policies, disagreements were numerous and discussions yielded results. It is true that the party had its problems, mostly with aging member base and many of the old guard being skeptical to any changes but the principles of the Party were correct. Party conferences under Reiserová have themselves become an theater act, where the Party leadership assumed the roles of directors and actors at the same time while the delegates were reduced to mere audience, supposed to only clap and cheer for the acts displayed to them. Of course, just like with real theater plays, criticism from the audience was allowed, but the critics could never hope of changing the act or taking any part in the play themselves. And if they ever became a part of the play, by being too critical, they were displayed as villains and purged from the Party, from the theater it has become, altogether.
And yet, perhaps even worse was the appointment of Karel Šín as a minister of culture. Černá remembered his reaction to finding out about what Spanish press wrote about his one night stay with Corinna Larsen. He was outraged, but not at the fact that him sleeping with that woman was discovered, to that he only reacted by saying "That's how I roll, winning.", but at the fact that the Spanish press failed to mention the size of his private parts and he had to be convinced that sending them a measurement of his parts to publish in a edit was not a good idea. Yet, the president tolerated no criticism of minister Šín.
But Černá considered herself wise enough to not publicly criticize the president or, heavens forbid, challenge her. Especially after she previously didn't support her in her attempt to get nominated by the Party. After all, Reiserová has shown that she can deal with her challengers, or those who didn't stand beside her and refused to toe the line, she expelled the previous president Sova. While Černá disagreed with Sova on many topics and remembered times when she had to wrestle the power out of his hands, while he used every possible trick to keep it in them, but she would never think about expelling a man who devoted much of his life to the party. For Reiserová the decision was almost imminent, And even worse, her former competitor for the Party's nomination Vicanová was now in prison. Černá instead focused on clearing the way herself and pursuing a career in diplomacy, and thanks to the Inquistan Archbishop Mikaela Kligenberg, she got it in such a prestigious place.
In truth she understood Kligenberg even less then Reiserová, in Černá's view Kligenberg didn't even try to act as a public servant, but unlike Reiserová, Kligenberg showed a great warmth towards Černá, and she appreciated that, now more than ever. She couldn't wait to see her to tell her the happy news.
Finally after the plane landed Černá entered a car that took her to building the meeting was taking place in. She headed towards the room and greeted all that were present. She considered herself a tolerant person, yet she couldn't help but stare at the Leagolian president Mouri-Kudo, and not in the way she would stare at the previous president Lifejumper. She soon recognized she would have to force herself to not look in her direction too often, to not appear rude.
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After a short meet and greet with all officials, Birdane lead them all to the venue where the conference would be taking place. The venue was a room that was intricately designed, with flags of nations indicating where the officials would sit. After all the officials had settled, she came to the lectern and gave the opening speech:
Good afternoon, leaders of Europe. I am the Internal Affairs Commissioner of the European Union, Münevver Birdane. I am organizing this conference for an agreement that will tackle one of the greatest issues we are experiencing in the twenty-first century: Climate change. The extensive industrialization that has started in the 17th century is now actively dangering human life on Earth as we know it. Our coastal cities, water supplies, animal species... Life, as we know it, is in danger.
Before the elections, I wanted to do this conference because this is a big issue for me, but an even bigger issue for the youth. Now, I have always tried to do the most in my office, but the conflict in my homeland has prevented me from doing so. I have been trying to receive news and contact with Alkharyan officials, none of which could come to Mennrimiak today, so I am carrying two roles, as I've always done since I took this Commission position. Thankfully, it has calmed down since I came into the office, but I regret to inform you that I will not be seeking another term in the next elections. I will probably run again in the future, just not now. I will be helping my country with the peace talks and such. Thank you to all who have helped me while I was here.
Before the negotiations, I would like to pass the microphone to the guest that we have today, who has also prepared a similar plan in their time, Former Internal Affairs Commissioner Jean-Claude Juncker. I invited him here because I think his insight on the Bergen Agreement would be helpful for all of us. Please welcome him.
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President Romain Guichard of Nofoaga just slipped into the Hall. The conference was just starting.
Climate was a top priority for him and his government. On the sunny island, the inhabitants have been facing coastal erosion for some time. A direct consequence of climate change. Romain hopes for a strong and ambitious agreement for all EU countries.
Birdane had just begun the welcome speech when a Nofoagan flag was quickly added to the line. He took a seat next to Mr. Spiggen of Gadalland and Aspern. The president leaned in Spiggen's direction and he whispered, "Hi... Welcome to the EU".
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Juncker stood up from his seat and walked to the podium at the same time Birdane was clearing it up for him to speak. When both got to be close enough, they kissed eachother cheeks twice as a salutation and also because of their common friendship. Then Juncker finally reached the podium, getting some papers out of his old European Union carpet. He then took the floor and gave his speech:
"Good afternoon everyone.
For those that don't know me because they have recently joined the European Union, I'm Jean-Claude Juncker, former Commissioner for Internal Affairs of the European Union and, as Commissioner Birdane said, the guy who prepared a similar plan in my 2 terms as Commissioner. It is great to see how the European family grows even more, and it is an honour and my pleasure to meet you all here. We all have different ideologies on this room, a true fact which we should never forget; but we can all find common views on certain topics, and that is what we should aim for on this summit. Before I start talking about the main matter here, I would like to thank the Internal Affairs Commissioner for her services to the European Union and announce to all of you that I will be running for the European Union's Premier Commissioner seat in the upcoming Commission elections which will start in 5 or 6 days.
Now, I would like to enter the matter, and I want to start by telling you a little anecdote that happened to me during this months. As many of you know, I have been travelling around Europe and discovering most of your countries, and when I travelled to Leagio, a young girl which was aged 10, approached to me and, with the innocence a kid always has, she said: "Mr. Juncker, thank you for giving my country the chance to turn green and help several of our animals to live for longer, as well as saving turtles". When this girl told me that, I really understood what Climate change is about: it is about letting our children and our future descendants a better world than the one we found when we were born and the one we will leave when we die. You know, I'm 66 years old and I'll make 67 in December, but it is my responsability as part of the oldest generations to contribute to the sustainability of our planet. Your children don't deserve to live in a world full of litter.
But if you don't like kids, you can always think on animals. I have several examples of species that could be endangered if Climate Change continued in its current path: The Nofoagan turtles, the Iberian Linx and different kinds of fish, mamals and insects. Of course, I think we all think Mosquitoes are disturbing and I really hate them, but they are the nourishment for bats; which means that if Mosquitoes are gone, a huge part or all the bats in the European Union might be gone. If we make our planet's temperature rise over the recommended levels, plants will also die, so say bye to many of the animals we know, and even to yourselves! If you are a selfish human, think that you could die if there isn't enough food for humans. And while it is great to see a huge majority of leaders from all around the European Union have attended, I'm really disappointed by those who haven't attended because they simply don't care or because they think they are too cool or they hate the European Union itself or several member states that have attended today, or maybe they just run away from me, you know! Of course, this doesn't apply to every single leader of the EU: we know some haven't been able to come because of personal reasons, and we hope that they can come back soon to the European family meetings.
To end, I will deliver a quote I have been working on since I knew this conference would be celebrated and since the Internal Affairs Commissioner and personal friend, Münevver Birdane, invited me to show up here today. “The Climate Crisis has already been solved. We already have the facts and solutions. All we have to do is wake up and change.” I hope we finally wake up today and change our attitudes together. Thank you very much for listening to me and it is nice to see you all here, once again. Thank you."
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After Juncker's wise words, Birdane took the podium once again.
Thank you, Mr. Juncker. We can now start the negotiation progress of the Bergen Agreement. Representatives may now speak on this podium and suggest amendments. Do not start empty arguments. I will not hesitate to intervene.
(OOC: You have until June 1st to discuss the agreement and suggest amendments. During this time, you are free to interact with any person as you please.)
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John Peter Key was surprised to bump into Juncker but then again it was his idea so its logical he would be around.He responded "Families doing good, my oldest has just started secondary so ask me in a years time when my hear is grey and falling out." He also said hello to those who greeted him including Jesus.
After the speech by Birdane he waited to get ready to speak. He agreed with most of it however there was one term he didn't like ICE . That one phrase could kill Duchies transition plans to Biofuel and Electric mix , in the Duchies opinion Internal Combustion Engines wasn't the issue it was the fuels and frankly Hydrogen was just a dumb alternative , why bother with wasting energy to crack water to hydroden to make back into electricity and convert electricity back again for the motors. It was a waste at least Biofuels and Electric were mostly efficient.He said "Thank you to both Juncker and Birdane . I thank them for all their work on this agreement and I very much hope we can all work together for the good of our futures and our children and grandchildren , remember this is what is at stake hence we support this transition and helping those less well off financially to adapt as well. However we do take issue with one part banning internal combustion engines , I am for abandoning petrol and diesel from crude obviously but I believe ICE still has a part to play with Biofuels , quite frankly the way its worded now banning sales of all ICE cars will harm a green transition. Electric is great but not suitable for some industries like long distance trucking and Hydrogen a waste due how inefficient it is when you convert forms of energy so many times. We are planning a electric and biofuels blend in transportation for our transition in the Duchies."
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"Thank you, Commissioner Birdane. I safely say that my government supports the guidelines of the draft of this agreement. I think that for some nations 2040 may be not long enough for the banning of ICE cars yet but this is something that I will admit is not something I am not sure on as each nation in this Union is different on how the process is done and what it requires. In addition, for some nations that are developing a military, ICE vehicles may be very difficult to transition from as there are at the moment, from what I understand based on my nation's standards, not strong enough electric engines for armored vehicles (including tanks and APC's). So, I think for the provision on ICE vehicles mandate, it should be modified for civilian vehicles. With a separate provision giving a transition for military vehicles by 2050 at most, I say would theatrically be appropriate unless there is sustainable evidence saying electric engines for military vehicles is impossible. However, the concept of electrically powered military vehicles, particularly for ground forces, is something that members of the Legion Ministry of Defense are looking at to see how probable it is at the moment." Mouri-Kudo said as she examined the draft that was given to her with great detail.
"I do not see any problem with the idea of the ECF as long as it is constitutional and is voluntary for signatory members in making the donations. However, at the moment, those are the only issues that I have at the moment. But I will say that Leagio will have not many issues with the provisions as the recently Green Transition Act that I signed about a month ago fulfilled many of those provisions stated in this agreement."
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Kohn Peter Key replied quickly "The issue is the ICE vehicle sales ban covers green ICE vehicles such as those on Biofuels. While it is in there we would have to regretably not sign this as is. May I suggest that it is changed instead to "10:Signatory states shall ban the sale of ICE vehicles that cannot run on alternative fuels by 2040." It would solve all the issues stated above while preserving the intention of eliminating fossil fuel use in transport. Sadly Electric won't work in every situation for example hilly railways , heavy cargo operations and where super high energy density is required or for applications like long distance transport where minimal downtime is required. We need Biofuel to be a possiblity where this is the case as we could cause more environmental damage through converting these cases to Hydrogen due to its inefficiencies or even batteries and full electric if its not appropriate for the use case.Even for many car owners electric may not always be the most appropiate option for example those who rely on cars regularly for work and clock above the average electric ranges in a day. They need biofuels to be available as an efficient viable alternative."
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Ikomar stood to speak.
"We cannot, nor will we, commit to reforestation. Such a thing would be beyond disastrous for Istkalen. The same, of course, goes for the promotion of greenbelt. What do you think would happen if the state seized the land, perhaps only a minority of it, perhaps a majority of it, of a smallholder, and said, 'Oh, we're taking away your livelihood to protect the environment! Now rejoice that you will be condemned to poverty!' We are perfectly fine with so much else, even, perhaps eventually, if it can be somehow done, that about the trains and whatnot, but not this, never this. We would like both of these to be removed, although perhaps combined with some sort of effort to promote some form of agriculture - agroforestry, perhaps, although that is a pipe dream, to an extent - if we are to sign this, so that Istkalen may be a signatory after the end of the occupation - which, by the way, seems will never come about, but no matter. I digress."
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Mr. Key and Mrs. Mouri-Kudo, thank you for your statements. I definitely understand why this bill would be quite harsh regarding vehicles and fuels, and I detailed that section more. You can check the updated version.
Mr. Ikomar, member state governments are responsible for handling which areas to reforest. As of now, there isn’t an exact bar that the countries need to reach regarding forestation in the agreement, nor areas specified in the agreement for reforestation. It just says that signatory states shall actively engage in reforestation.
Now, with the new changes, is there anything anyone would like to add?
(OOC: Check the document again to see the new changes, highlighted in italic. This conference will end on June 10th, and then Bergen Agreement will go into effect.)
The Kingdom of Spain
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