Black Zanate birds flock in the colorful framboyan trees above Plaza de la Forma as the citizens of Cancun convene to welcome and bless COP16 with a celebration of prayers, songs and short impassioned speeches.
"We need an answer," says Rodolfo Urapilleta, one of the few volunteers on hand who speaks English. "Tonight we are getting together to pray. I don’t know how but maybe the Lord can do something."
With discussions of REDD+, carbon offsets, GHGs and LDCs non-conspicuously absent from the agenda, a local environmental group sets up space in a far corner of the plaza. Kids and their parents explore and play with a handful of interactive exhibits which breathe life into the plight of four species of endangered blanca coral turtles.
The crowd of 200 shifts its attention to the stage as a group of 50 men and women, dressed, despite the heat, in white suits and dresses and golden prayer veils, begins to sing "Nosotros somos el mundo, nosotros somos los chicos."
Next up on stage, a local biology professor takes the microphone. "It’s up to us, the people of Cancun! We need to make sure that the land of the people is taken care of with as much care as the people themselves."
Everyone cheers when the next speaker reminds them that actions, not talk, are what really count. Little things, like deciding to leave the car at home and walk or ride a bike, he says, done locally in town after town have an enormous impact on the positively impacting climate change.
Victor Menotti, Executive Director of the International Forum on Globalization, takes the stage and speaks for a moment about his hope to ensure that democracy triumphs at COP16 with the formal recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples and forest dependent communities.
As darkness settles into the square, a scruffy old brown dog sleeps on, oblivious even to the ceremonious releasing of the doves.
"The Lord has done it before," says Urapilleta, looking up into the black sky. "We have to have hope."