And so it begins…
Posted on 10. Dec, 2009 by annac in United Kingdom
The atmospere was radically different yesterday! Photo credit: Robert Van Waarden
For the first couple of days of Copenhagen I was confused. The place was so normal. The atmosphere so calm. I wanted to stand on a table and just yell,
“This is Copenhagen people!”
Yesterday things changed. Yesterday it felt like it really began.
And by the end of the day the atmosphere in the conference centre had changed dramatically.
Things have shifted here, and I’m pretty sure shifted for good.
This shift was brought about yesterday morning by the actions of Tuvalu. In plenary they spoke up to say they couldn’t continue negotiating unless the legality of what comes out of Copenhagen was discussed, and that a legally binding deal is what they expect to be signing next Friday. The discussions that followed cause the process to be suspended and though they resumed in the afternoon they had to continue with a different section of the negotiations as the situation with the legality had still not been resolved.
This action by Tuvalu didn’t just cause the negotiations to become tenser but also the hallways too. As people came out in support of Tuvalu and the most vulnerable countries the atmosphere changed here and the ante was really upped.
Yesterday all over the conference centre unofficial actions broke out. In the strange world of the UN you have to apply to the UN to do ‘actions’, ie speak your mind/show your cause in the hallways. Up until now most people have been abiding by these rules.
Yesterday we said enough is enough. We are here, we want to be heard and we don’t want to play by the UN rules anymore. There was a mass action outside plenary in support of Tuvalu. Mini actions all over the place especially by the African youth here (those guys rock my world!) and just general upping of the visibility and loudness of activists in the conference centre.
With of course the inevitable upping of security that comes with.
As worrying as that is, at least I can finally say and feel, that..
This is Copenhagen people!
I hope Jan and the rest of the negotiators feel this too.
Let’s hope we can keep this atmosphere up.
Let’s hope it’s time for the real shift to begin.
Go Tuvalu, I am so happy to know that one of the smallest countries who are most vulnerable to climate change are getting so much support for their strong actions!!! Thanks for sharing the electric atmosphere Anna.
Creative actions might be all that is keeping this meeting going. If civil society does not support the small states-who will be the most affected by climate change-then the meeting will head to the lowest common denominator.
We should also hold the UN and Danish accountable for their petty attempts to break the spirit of civil society. Today, for example the guards at the Bell Center refused to let any NGOs in before 8 a.m. This severely affects NGOs ability to lobby states and interferes with their right to participate because before 8 am is the best time to spesk to delegates before they start their meeting, most at 8 am. The police/security said the UN had made a decision to do this, the UN said it did not. Who was lying?