Mass action in Copenhagen calls for a legally-binding climate deal
No commentsAbout 100,000 protesters – Danes and international participants alike – took to the streets of Copenhagen on Saturday to send world leaders a clarion call for clinching a legally-binding climate deal.
A similar action was also held by counterpart activists more than 6,000 miles away in Manila, Philippines, seven hours earlier.
It was one of the coldest days at the Danish capital but that did not deter thousands of protesters from gathering at the Parliament Square for a 6-kilometre march to the Bella Center where negotiators are currently debating the outcome of the United Nations Climate Change Conference or COP 15.
The mood at the Parliament Square was festive. Multi-racial attendees mixed with ordinary citizens while advocacy groups donned costumes and propped creative campaign materials. Many were seen dancing while others had brought their young children to the street event.
But the message was solid and serious: a fair, ambitious and legally-binding deal at the end of the historic talks.
“It’s here, it’s now… Feel the weight of the world‘s expectations for a fair deal,” said Danish actor Thure Lindhardt, one of the speakers at the assembly before the march, calling out to climate negotiators currently gathered in the city.
The protesters scored the slow-moving talks following a week of intense push and pull between the negotiating blocs of the developed and developing nations over financial assistance and the continuation of the commitments under Kyoto Protocol, among others.
“Nature doesn’t negotiate. You shouldn’t play political poker with the world’s future,” said Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo.
Protesters also took a stab at Annex I countries – particularly the U.S.- saying that if they can find trillions of dollars to bail out rich bankers then they can surely find funds to bail out the planet and the poor.
The rally venue was under heavy siege from the police. There was even a helicopter hovering over the area.
The large crowd had started marching at around 2:30 p.m. towards the Bella Center to hold a candlelight vigil. Their arrival there at around 5:30 p.m. was met with a cordon of huge vehicles set up to prevent them from getting too close to the Bella Center.
In Manila, meanwhile, some 300 youths clad in red shirts and led by the environmental group Greenpeace gathered at the Quezon City Hall to put their handprints on a freedom wall that reminded the world leaders in Copenhagen that “the world wants a real deal.”
The red shirts, said Greenpeace, stressed that time is running out and that they are calling for a “red alert” among negotiators to seal a binding deal immediately.
