NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AFP) — More than 10,000 people are in Bali thrashing out action on global warming, but those who couldn't make it in person are here virtually -- some in the form of dragons and action heroes.
Hoping to widen the debate and cut down on carbon emissions from air travel, Oneworld.net, a left-leaning website, has taken the UN conference here on climate change to the online virtual world Second Life.
The website has brought together everyone from a US congressman, who travelled virtually as a 3-D animation, to anonymous participants hailing from Japan to Turkmenistan and Romania.
Second Life, which has drawn millions of users since it was created in 2003 by San Francisco-based Linden Labs, is a fantasy land in which users mingle under assumed identities as "avatars."
While most delegates in Bali opt for formal attire, users of the site, http://www.oneclimate.net/, pick the virtual likeness of their choice -- ranging from purple hair to outfits befitting action heroes.
The mostly anonymous avatars type in questions and comments at a virtual arena in a daily webcast featuring real-world officials and experts.
"I admit I was a bit of a cynic at first about these avatars. I just found it totally bizarre," said Danny Nelson, 64, a former British journalist who conducts the interviews for the webcast.
"But then I saw the results. This has the potential to bring in all sorts of people who never would have come to Bali unless they're millionaires or in NGOs," he said.
One person who used the website to get through to Bali was US Representative Edward Markey, a leading critic of President George W. Bush's energy policies which he accused of worsening global warming.
"I have teleported here over the Internet, as you can see, as an avatar," Markey said as he introduced his virtual persona -- a comparatively staid animation in which he appeared in suit and tie.
"I believe that I am the first member of the United States Congress to be introduced by someone with a blue dragon on her shoulder," the Massachusetts Democrat noted.
Markey said he had to stay in Washington to spearhead a clean energy bill in the Democratic-controlled Congress, but wanted to get his message out in Bali where talks have deadlocked.
"Dozens of representatives of the Bush administration are in Bali -- all carrying instruction to say 'no' to real progress," Markey said.
"It is important for Bali and the world to hear other American voices -- voices advocating a new direction for the United States."
Markey said he also hoped to prove by example by finding a way to Bali that emits almost none of the carbon blamed for global warming.
Jeffrey Allen, part of the team of two running the virtual space from Bali, admitted technology has not yet been perfected to the point that major international conferences could be conducted purely in cyberspace.
But Allen, 30, who telecommutes to Oneworld's Washington office from his home in Denver, said the Second Life project could still help fight global warming, which he called "the defining issue of our generation."
"You just have to do a little creative thinking to see what's excessive," Allen said.
He also said that while the site had drawn users from around the world, most were North Americans or Europeans as they were more likely to be familiar with Second Life.
But as the Internet grows more sophisticated and widespread, he hoped that more people would come online and bring a truly global perspective unavailable in the real world.
"Through Second Life, it doesn't matter if you're a farmer in Turkmenistan or a professor at Harvard. Everyone can ask questions anonymously and everyone's opinion is just as valid," Allen said.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
