By Benji Shulman

“Maybe if we ignore the environment it will go away” asked David Simpson head of the Kwa-Zulu Natal Jewish Board of Deputies. He was MC-ing the “JNF meets Durban” event on the Wednesday evening of last week. The remark got a solid laugh around the room but it was also probably the best summary one could get of negotiations in Durban in the past two weeks.

Coming to the conference I was expecting to have to report on and understand intricate changes in policy-making, in reality nobody stuck their head above the parapet until the last day. Then it seemed like everyone suddenly realised that they weren’t in Durban for what the locals call FUNSUNZI (fun, sun and sea) but for a real purpose.

They then proceeded to lock themselves in rooms for 36 hours to and hammer out an agreement. So while Shabbos descended and Orlando Pirates won the Telekom Cup at the ever beautiful Moses Mobida stadium, the 1% who spend the 99% had a serious look at our green collective futures.

What did the final the deal look like? Well one can probably say that it was more than we expected (we didn’t expect anything) but still not quite what was needed and certainly not what anyone wanted. On the positives the conference has stayed the imminent execution of the Kyoto Protocol, still the only legal framework that has been established for this issue.

There was also some progress on issues like the Green Fund which will be vital to implement other agreements. On the negative side countries have given themselves till 2015 to come up with an agreement and only till 2020 are they intending to make it binding. Also only a couple of days after COP Canada has decided to withdraw from the process making it even less effective than before.

At more micro level the conference was more positive in many ways. All along in the blogs over the past two weeks I have been able to report on the innovative and interesting things that cities, NGO’s have been getting up to in assisting the planet. Whether it was the electric car, a Durban rooftop garden, the wonderbag or the vegans flogging free tofu sandwiches the energy was excellent.

As the Jewish community I am proud to say that we played our part constructively and made our contribution to solving the problem. This went right across the board and included such highlights as the chief rabbi’s appearance at the interfaith climate change gathering, the sod turning of the new JNF environmental centre in Durban, the delivery of Jewish school kids’ pictures to the minister of International Affairs and Cooperation and the interest shown in tree planting for COP17 (A few certificates are still available for those who want one).

It was also amazing to see the warm reception given to the JNF delegation by people from all over Africa. They know Israel and green achievements and understand that much can be built between the continent and their nearest next door neighbours. The connections created over this short time were amazing and look forward to seeing the fruit that they bear both in the rest of the continent and in our own country.

Lastly it was good to see how much our community is willing to give and volunteer. The Durban community was amazing in helping to organise everything from kosher food to accommodation to a wonderful “Green” community dinner and together with the JNF in Johannesburg did a tremendous job in making it all come together.

That in the end is what it is all about. Not waiting for governments but working together for our communities and for planet, for a better future.