Yes, I know today is technically Day 1 of Copenhagen, but this blog is going to lag realtime by about one day, so that I’ve got time to get to grips with what’s happened.  So today I am writing about yesterday.

Yesterday, on the eve of the official conference, more than 1500 young people held a conference of their own, to do two things (Dave, a youth delegate from the UK, gives a great description in his blog).  Firstly, as youth delegates, they needed to prepare themselves for the upcoming two weeks - sharing skills and getting clued-up.  Secondly, they were building a movement - getting inspired by like-minded people from across the world, and working together to bring about the fair, equitable and binding deal that is needed at Copenhagen.

To try and increase the diversity of voices represented at Copenhagen, they have fundraised £300,000 to bring youth delegates from developing countries.  Josh from the UK Youth Delegation explains: “Western governments still can’t agree on how to provide funding to those worst affected by climate change - so we’ve taken it upon ourselves to show them how it’s done”.

The UK Youth Delegation has fundraised £11,000 to support eight delegates from Kenya, where the effects of climate change are already being felt.  “Climate change is a life and death issue for us.  Food production has dropped, water scarcity is biting” says Waiganjo Njoroge from the Kenyan branch of the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change.

Oh, and if any of you are feeling left out of the action, there are ways you can make a difference back here in the UK!  Prime Minister Gordon Brown, said on Friday: “Young people are sending letters to me about climate change more than any other issue. It is these letters I receive that give this government the mandate to act.”

In other words: the more people that demand action on climate change, the more likely it is to happen.  So get writing!

In a radio interview I did for the BBC World Service today (you can listen here if you want - it’s 34 minutes into the programme) I was asked whether I felt optimistic about the Copenhagen conference.  Tricky question, but I think on balance I don’t see much point in pessimism - we’ve got to keep demanding what is needed, and not stop until we get it.  That’s a fair, ambitious and binding agreement that is grounded in the science, by the way.