Earlier this summer, Walid Fayez Mustapha, a Copenhagen forestry and nature management student, got a surprising, if not slightly mysterious, e-mail. <\/p>\n
It asked him if he would like to speak at a conference in China on Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM). He has no idea who the lady is who sent him the e-mail. <\/p>\n
Since then, she has repeatedly contacted him, and he doesn\u2019t know how she knows him. But he assumes it has something to do with his involvement in the climate talks COP17 last year.<\/p>\n
He has been asked to speak, together with executive directors of large industries and respected professors in forestry. The conference is called the First Annual Conference on GreenTech, and is part of the Low Carbon Earth Summit in Guangzhou in south China.<\/p>\n
To the University Post he admits that he is flattered, yet still unsure of himself.<\/p>\n
\u00bbI am still a student, and honestly, I\u2019m not sure if she knows that or if I am actually qualified,\u00ab he grins.<\/p>\n
The conference website says it will offer \u2018practical perspectives on green economy, promotion of sustainable or renewable energy, and [will] exhibit technical resolutions to solve and predict the existing issues.\u2019<\/p>\n
Walid can be forgiven for thinking that he simply does not have the time to attend classes. <\/p>\n
While he talks to the University Post reporter, he has one eye on the computer, searching for articles about REDD+ [Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation \u2013 a climate project, ed.]. <\/p>\n
Walid was seriously introduced to the world of climate politics when attending the UNFCCC COP17, commonly known as the annual climate conference, in November 2011. Now he is in the process of figuring out his plan for attending the next annual climate conference in Doha, Qatar, this coming fall. <\/p>\n
\u00bbI did actually think about starting my own small NGO [non-government organisation, ed.], so I could get easier access to funding. But as I think of it, it is too time consuming and the time to do it just isn\u2019t there,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n
At COP17 Last year, Walid organized the trip, and elected other forestry students to attend. He was the UNFCCC so-called \u2018focal point\u2019, meaning that he was the connecting link between IFSA, an international forestry student body, and the UNFCCC secretariat prior to the conference.<\/p>\n
He will be able to go again this year, this time as a liaison between forestry students and researchers.<\/p>\n
\u00bbI have a Master\u2019s thesis to plan, potential field work, and I expect myself to do well in classes,\u00ab he laughs.<\/p>\n
Walid Mustapha will update University Post readers with the negotiations and events taking place at the next climate round in Doha. <\/p>\n
universitypost@adm.ku.dk<\/p>\n