A blog from the Copenhagen COP15 Summit about Climate Change, alternative energy
and... stuff!

What Obama should have said about the oil spill

June 17th, 2010

Thought this video was worth sharing. She’s pretty spot on!

No Comments »

Video of “Reclaim Power” march to the Bella Centre at COP15

January 21st, 2010

Been a little while since I put up a post, but here is some quality footage of the Reclaim Power march in Copenhagen. This was the one where we tried to get over the fence to hold the “People’s Summit” inside the Bella Centre, where the official Conference Of Parties was being held. We didn’t get over the fence, there were too many Jonny Hoppers, but we did hold the conference out the front.

Thanks to Felix for providing this video, you can view more of his video reports here:

No Comments »

What would a good climate deal look like?

December 24th, 2009

This was a question asked to the audience by George Monbiot. I was too shit-scared to stand up in front of hundreds of people and speak, so here is my version in text!

After watching so many different people speak over the last few weeks – I think a good climate deal would look like this:

1. No Carbon Trading

Carbon trading is a flawed idea, full stop. It was created by a bunch of already rich people to let them profit from global warming, whilst not actually stopping emissions. The system is overly complicated and open to all kinds of corruption. Leaving the market to solve a problem created by the market is like giving a fat kid pies to lose weight. You can read more about Carbon Trading here

2. A strategy that looks at stopping carbon at the source, instead of by attempting to reduce demand

This was a point brought up by George Monbiot, a really important one. A selection of science papers published last year stated that we can only use 60% of the current reserves of fossil fuels to avoid the detrimental 2 degree temperature rise. Currently we are trying to reduce demand through taxes and carbon trading. If we continue to allow people to prospect for more oil and keep drilling, stocks of oil will increase as demand drops, causing it to become very cheap, therefore discouraging people to kick the habit.

3. A legally binding agreement

This is really important, as without a legally binding agreement you can’t enforce anything. If you look at this table you can see just how much countries have actually increased their emissions since they signed up to the Kyoto Protocol, making it not worth the paper it was written on. A legally binding agreement could be regulated by an international body, with offenders being tried in an international court like the Hague.

4. A ban on GM crops

We need to reverse the privatisation of life and get back to nature. GM seeds are floating their way into small farms and cross pollinating, enabling the owners of the GM seed to claim rights to the crop. This is taking away people’s ability to grow their own food like they’ve done for years, (or “food sovereignty”, as it’s known). Monsanto own 90% of GM crops; that’s called a monopoly. The main reason that Organic is more expensive currently, is because standard, pesticide based crops are heavily subsidised by governments. The standards of Organic we have currently would be enough to supply all our food needs – we don’t actually need GM crops.

5. A sharing of ideas and technology on a worldwide scale

If the green technology race does kick off, intellectual property rights will only hold us back. If a company invents a new standard of power, it can patent it, own the rights to it and charge a fortune to anyone who wants to use it. On the other hand, if people are sharing ideas with each other, we will move ahead much quicker as we have more heads involved. As there is no patent on it, it will be cheaply available and poor countries will be able to afford to implement it.

In 1961, JFK gave a speech about putting a man on the moon. In 8 years they were there – that’s the kind of effort we need right now.

6. A fund for developing countries to cope with the damage already done

This should be managed by a newly created institution and NOT via the World Bank. If you know the history of the World Bank, you will know they have spent the last 30 years dangling the carrot of financial help to developing countries, whilst making them privatize everything, in order for international companies to come in and buy the lot at a grand sale bonanza price. One suggestion was to put a large sum of money in a bank somewhere and let developing countries draw out the interest only, so we wouldn’t have to keep topping it up.

2 Comments »

The declaration of Planetary Rights, by Polly Higgins

December 22nd, 2009

On Thursday I saw an excellent talk by Polly Higgins, an environmental lawyer and George Monbiot, a scientist. Out of all the talks I had seen over the few weeks at Copenhagen, I found this one of the most interesting and inspiring.

Polly had an idea, in the form of a declaration of “Planetary Rights”. This is something that could be applied instantly through a UN agreement, like the UN declaration of human rights was after the second world war. The basis is quite simple, but very powerful:

Firstly, we need to agree that the Earth is a living being. (If you don’t agree with this, then feel free to tell me what you think the Earth is!). I admit, it may sound a bit hippy, but if you consider the resources the Earth provides us with, we need to treat it with a little more respect. Like all living beings, the Earth would have a declaration of rights. Amongst these would include:

- The right to diversity
- The right to ecological integrity
- The right not to be polluted

Once this declaration had come into place, polluting the earth would become illegal. (I can hear the fossil fuel Lobbyists spewing into their Latte’s as they read this!) For companies caught polluting, instead of paying a fine, they would need to put it back to the way it was. Currently, it’s often cheaper for a company to pay the fines than it is to stop polluting. There would be an international court like the Hague for those who break the law. Big companies are multinational, so we need an international court to be able to effectively govern them.

Rather than going into more detail, check out treeshaverights.com, or here is Polly Higgins discussing it:

1 Comment »

Why I hope Copenhagen fails

December 17th, 2009

OK, call me a pessimist, but I really hope this summit doesn’t reach an agreement and they have to start again in 2010 in Mexico. Why? Well, there’s a few reasons…

Firstly, and most obviously, the deal being put across is half assed. Not only are the reductions proposed by countries like Australia and the US not enough to reach what the Science recommends. The ways to achieve them, such as Carbon Trading, are flawed.

I’ve seen talks by George Monbiot over the last few days, who made a really important point. A selection of science papers published last year stated that we can only use 60% of the current reserves of fossil fuels to avoid the detrimental 2 degree temperature rise. The COP15 talks have never been about curbing supply of fossil fuels – they are all about curbing the demand, by putting reduction targets on the companies burning them. The pollution starts at the source, which is where we should be focusing.

There has been no transparency at COP15. We should be able to see what is being discussed and negotiated on our behalves. I’d also like to see a list of every single person attending and the company they represent. There should be a referendum on this around the world. A majority of people in pretty much every country want strong action on Climate Change and the reduction of Fossil Fuel dependence. These are decisions that affect our lives greatly and currently the lobbyists for a few fossil fuel companies have a disproportionate amount of influence. That’s not democracy.

Copenhagen has built connections. There have been people from every corner of the globe talking at Klimaforum. There have been debates and discussions of people from all different backgrounds; from the developed and developing worlds. A lot of NGOs and activists have connected here too. There has never been a forum like this where everyone has been in the one place, sharing information. The movement is much stronger now and will be even better prepared for COP16 in Mexico. I believe there will be stronger demand across the world for the right decisions to be made next time.

As many people have said, (including Desmond Tutu apparently!), no deal is better than a bad deal.

1 Comment »

The world according to Monsanto

December 17th, 2009

This is a well known doco my mate Troy sent to me – didn’t know it was online! Monsanto won the Angry Mermaid Award in Copenhagen, for being the company that has polluted our environment the most – a prestigious award!

No Comments »

The “Reclaim Power” protest in Copenhagen, 16th December

December 16th, 2009

Last night, I went to a planing meeting with people of all nationalities on the outskirts of Copenhagen. The plan was how to get into the Bella Center grounds where COP15 was being held. A number of different groups were formed – some on bikes, some on an organised march and some on a DIY kind of action! I chose to join the organised march – the Blue Bloc.

I am not a serial protester! There have been marches all week, this is only my second one. It was an important one though, because the plan was to get into the Bella Center car park and hold a “People’s Assembly”, where the real issues on Climate Change would be presented. Issues that aren’t even being talked about in there at the moment. Why not? Because inside the discussion is based on how to make money off Climate Change, not how to solve it. With all the NGOs (Non Governmental Organisations) being kicked out the day before – it was just Fossil Fuel Lobbyists and leaders left in that place. This would be a non-violent protest, that was the clear message, unless some bad eggs started it, which can set things off.

So, we met at Tårnby train station at 8am, Dec 16th, 3km from the Bella Center. A lot of people showed up, at least one thousand, contrary to media reports of a few hundred. We marched in an orderly fashion down to the center, with the sound truck in the middle, belting out the chants! There were police the whole way down, but we had formed human chains along the sides to stop them splitting the march, as they had done on Saturday.

I had met some friendly Danish Blokes at Christiania on the Monday, who had offered to let me join them in the march, so I wasn’t on my own if anything bad happened. They were pro-active, which was good, so I followed them and we formed part of the chain on the left hand side.

Now, what I hadn’t realised was that when we got down to the Bella Center, this would be the front line of the charge against the Police! Once we got there the truck started counting down from 10 to charge. When you’re looking at a line of riot Police a metre in front of you, all armored up and you’re about to charge them, the question “what the fuck am I doing here?” does enter your head…

We heard the word GO and we all started pushing forward with linked arms, the Police seemed to be more interested in going for the women and the shorter people around me. They pulled up 3 Riot Vans in front of us to block the fence, so this split the crowd up. That was their best tactic, as it left only small gaps to get past, easily blocked off by a few of them.

We were all split up now, but still trying to get past. The Pepper Spray started coming out and the Police were dousing everyone with it! They were beating people back with their batons too. Tear gas was thrown once, but the wind was going the wrong direction and so they went back to Pepper Spray and batons! It’s worth noting that’s it’s illegal to wear goggles or a gas mask at a protest, so the police can gas you more effectively!

There were about 90 people inside the Bella Center at the same time throwing their own protest. They had planned to march outside and join us, but the police had now stopped anyone from leaving or entering the summit; even delegates.

There was no way we could break that wall of coppers, so they decided to have the People’s Assembly outside on the truck. The Police didn’t like that either, so we had to defend the truck next. That didn’t last long though and they had us out of there quick. They were now pushing us into a smaller group from both ends of the road with all their vans. They got everyone into a manageable space and let them have their People’s Assembly on the road outside. I guess they stopped us getting in, so they were happy enough by now

When I first got here, I felt bad. I didn’t want to go against the Police – I just wanted the point to be made about what’s NOT being discussed inside. Once you see them start beating people and using the pepper spray, you start to feel anger and I can see how these things escalate. Luckily, there were no bad eggs amongst the protestors and I did not see anyone behave violently. Solidarity is the word that gets thrown around a lot at protests and I did see a lot of that today. There were very few arrests.

Was it successful? We didn’t get onto the grounds of the Bella Center, but the whole point was to bring attention to what actually needs to be done on Climate Change. The news didn’t paint it in a bad way, although none of them seem to have shown the footage of the People’s Assembly, which is a shame. At the very least it has raised awareness that people are not happy with the leaders negotiating our future away to the fossil fuel industry.

Photos are a bit crap, as I only took my phone, but you can view them here

No Comments »

What’s been happening in Copenhagen

December 15th, 2009

Things have been escalating this week in Copenhagen, both inside and out of the Bella Center (where COP15 is held).

After the march on Saturday, the Police have been using heavy handed tactics. Tear Gas seems to be getting thrown around like it’s going out of style! I got my first taste ever last night and I wasn’t actually protesting – don’t recommend the stuff. Allegedly, people had thrown bottles outside of Christiana – the rest of us were inside at an event and the police decided to storm it and start throwing the gas around. That shit hurts and I wasn’t even in the middle of it! I was told the grade of tear gas they use in Denmark is the same grade as the Israeli Defence Force. Excellent.

That is the most police vans I have ever seen in one place. There must have been around 50 of them, each carrying 12 police officers. To me there was no riot in Christiania though, just a lot of gas getting thrown around…

Due to the police having new powers to arrest people they “think” might commit a crime in the near future, they’ve gone around today arresting the people they think are the leaders of tomorrow’s march on the Bella Center. It’s kinda like the Minority Report, without all the gadgets and clever stuff.. and Tom Cruise too – but that’s not a bad thing…

The biggest Rock Star over at Klimaforum the last few days has been Mohamed Nasheed, the President of the Maldives. He is the first and only leader to take serious action and commit the Maldives to being carbon nuetral within a decade. A great speaker too.

They also had the “Angry Mermaid” award over at Klimaforum today, which was a people’s vote award for the company that had done the most to undermine progress at the talks and continue to pollute. Monsanto won – top work boys!

Inside COP15, at the Bella Center, some interesting twists have occurred too. Firstly, there was a deadlock and talks were stopped all yesterday. It seems that developed countries are sidelining the rest of the delegates so they can pursue their own agendas, causing friction.

After today, all NGO’s (Non Governmental Organisations) are banned from the COP15 conference, citing overcrowding as the official reason. So, now all we have are leaders and Fossil Fuel Lobbyists floating around that place – how the hell are we going to get a good deal out of this?!

No Comments »

• Photos of stuff