SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A Yellowknife woman was part of an effort at December's UN climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico, to get youth delegates into official negotiations.

Jennifer Dagg, 26, was part of Canada's youth delegation to the climate change conference in Cancun last December for the UN Climate Change Conference. She and Daniel T'seleie were the only delegates from the NWT. Most countries send youth delegations and Dagg said Canada's, with 28 members, was the largest.

"Youth involvement has expanded and youth might have a role in some of the official delegations now, instead of just being youth delegations which are separate from the official," said Dagg.

During the conference, which ran from Nov. 29 to Dec. 10, Canadian youth delegates talked with Canada's official delegation, which was part of the negotiations, and asked them about their position and tried to influence it.

"Essentially we want to see stronger targets from them, stronger reductions in (Greenhouse Gases) that they're willing to commit to," said Dagg, adding Canada's current targets are 17 per cent below 2005 levels of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

However, this is where the youths' influence in the international talks currently ends. Youth delegates have a three-year pass, which expires next year, to participate in some UN conferences. Dagg said that pass will be renewed with a bit more bargaining power after talks with UN officials, but it is not yet clear how much influence the youth will have.

"We certainly don't have the negotiation power of a (country's official delegation)," said Dagg

"But I would argue that youth have just as much stake in it as any country in the world, so we should have a voice."

Among Canada's official delegation to the conference was Ray Case, the director of environment for the GNWT's Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Dagg said she had breakfast with Case while in Cancun and he tried to fill her in on as much as he could. Though she had good things to say about Case, she was unimpressed by the role the delegation played in the negotiations.

"I'm certain he did his best to represent GNWT interests but he was part of the official delegation so by that he was obliged to (uphold the government's position)," said Dagg.

Despite her disappointment in Canada's position, she said she was pleasantly surprised that something came out of the conference, given her low expectations.

One is an agreement under the Kyoto Protocol to work on establishing a next step after the protocol agreement ends in 2012, with the general understanding that the next step would involve new targets.

The hope is for a renewed set of legally binding targets to be completed by next November's conference in Durban, South Africa.

The second agreement between countries attending the conference is one in which they acknowledge global warming to be a real thing; that temperatures are going to get warmer; and that not only are changes going to have to be made to reduce emissions and hold the temperature increase below 2 C, but countries are going to have to adapt to a warmer climate.

Last year's conference in Copenhagen was attended by five NWT MLAs and two government employees, and cost the GNWT $55,000. This year no MLAs went, and Case - the only NWT bureaucrat to attend - went on the federal government's dime.

Dagg said the GNWT has been taking a "progressive" stance on climate change so far, with wood pellet boilers and recycling programs, and its residents should encourage the government to play a role in negotiations such as this.

"There will be direct repercussions for NWT economy ... some day," said Dagg. "Right now that day isn't here so it's hard for people to justify (spending money to go to these conferences)."

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