Tag Archives: Copenhagen/COP-15

Petition!

Stine and Tannie are out, but they are still charged for shouting Push on the 16th of December.

Sign this petition to show that there were many of us shouting push on that day. If Stine and Tannie are charged, then all of us should be charged!

I too shouted PUSH at the Bella Center Dec. 16th:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/shoutpush/

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Filed under Actions / Protest, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Copenhagen/COP-15

Climate Agreement Reached (or not…)

Below are my initial impressions upon listening to Barack Obama’s announcement about the so-called agreement reached in Copenhagen.  Tune in tomorrow for a full analysis of the negotiations and the outcomes.

Initial reactions:

* This was a total subversion of the UNFCCC COP process.  The Obama Administration succeeded in throwing aside the legally binding Kyoto Protocol, and the two track process agreed in Bali.

* The agreement reached is not only undemocratic, it is not legally binding, it is voluntary, and its commitments made on a country by country basis.
* Obama made an agreement with “key players” in the game and essentially flipped off the rest–especially the ALBA countries.  The African countries were outraged by the backroom dealings with Ethiopia by Obama and by France–which were carried out in the name of all of Africa without their consent.
Is Global Justice Ecology Project shocked at these developments?  Nope.  It is business as usual, as predicted.  This was the reason we participated in the founding of Climate Justice Action and the organizing of the Reclaim Power action that brought together social movements around the world to begin to discuss what the new world we know we need will look like.
More tomorrow,
Anne Petermann
Executive Director

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Filed under Climate Change, Climate Justice, Copenhagen/COP-15, Posts from Anne Petermann

Climate Justice Action Press Release and Video

CLIMATE JUSTICE ACTION

PRESS RELEASE
17th December 2009
Contact international media: +45 50669028
Contact Danish media: +45 41294994
media@climate-justice-action.org

VIDEO RELEASED OF COPENHAGEN OBSERVERS AGGRESSIVELY INTIMIDATED  BY POLICE
Video came to light today of COP15 delegates being aggressively intimidated by police. (1) http://bit.ly/6DOBHe

Many delegates who marched out of the UN talks during Wednesday’s protests were intimidated and threatened with arrest by Danish police, preventing them from joining a People’s Assembly outside the conference.

Danish police were filmed as they surrounded and attacked official delegates who were attempting to join activists and other accredited observers to form a Peoples’ Assembly calling for climate justice.
Kevin Smith from Carbon Trade Watch, who was hit by the police on the bridge, said: “We were trying to reach the point where the Peoples’ Assembly was being held in order to have a discussion about the need for real alternatives to the false solutions being promoted inside the climate talks. It’s hugely shaming for both the UN and the Danish government that they are willing to use batons, pepper spray, police dogs and tear gas to try and stop these critical discussions from taking place.”

Camila Moreno, a representative from Brazil for the Global Justice Ecology Project: “It was a trap. They knew it, they never had any intention of allowing us to get to our friends on the other side of the bridge. It was a combination of the Danish police and the UN.”

Eriel Tchekwie Deranger from the Indigenous Environmental Network said: “They didn’t want information from those on the inside being conveyed to those on the outside, especially by strong voices from the global South.”

Dorothy Guerrero, Focus On The Global South representative from the Philippines, said: “The restriction on our movement hindered the Peoples’ Assembly, which was an alternative space from the official agenda. For many of us from the South we are used to seeing that in our own countries, but for a country that has a reputation like Denmark it is quite shocking. The fact that they are shutting people out is in many ways like shutting out the majority voice.”

ENDS

NOTES
(1) Footage available on youtube http://bit.ly/6DOBHe
Video by Jess Worth from the New Internationalist
For high quality footage, contact Climate Justice Action on +45 50669028

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Climate Justice Action and Climate Justice Now! Press Release

(You can view the photo essay from the Reclaim Power action below the press release)

For Immediate Release: Climate Justice Action & Climate Justice Now!

December 16, 2009

Contacts: Climate Justice Now!: 0045 2497 7863

Climate Justice Action: 0045 5066 9028  media@climate-justice-action.org

Mass Nonviolent Protest by North-South Climate Justice Alliances at COP 15 Marks Defining Moment for Emerging Global Climate Justice Movement

Despite Police Violence Civil Society Groups Inside and Outside Unite in “People’s Assembly” to Demand Real Solutions to the Climate Crisis

Protests Expose Deep Flaws in the COP Process and Denounce Efforts to Silence Critics by Excluding Civil Society

Copenhagen, Denmark—As the COP 15 climate talks enter their final days and world leaders converge on Copenhagen, thousands demonstrated in the streets of Copenhagen as part of the “Reclaim Power” protest for climate justice called by Climate Justice Action. About 300 COP 15 delegates who are part of the Climate Justice Now! Network marched out of the Bella Center and attempted to join the protests outside, led by members of the Bolivian delegation and the Indigenous Peoples Caucus. These delegates were met with police truncheons; some were badly bruised. Hundreds more UNFCCC accredited Civil Society observers were denied access to the Bella Center all together, including the entire Friends of the Earth International delegation, who staged a sit-in in the lobby at the Bella Center– and the Indigenous Peoples Caucus, which is scheduled to meet with Bolivian President Evo Morales and is being denied entry at the time of writing.

“In the wake of the mass exclusions of critical civil society voices from the COP 15 process, and with the future of our planet literally hanging in the balance, we joined the mass nonviolent movement in Copenhagen to protest the unjust agenda of the rich countries who are trying to strong arm the rest of the world into accepting their agenda of allowing global warming by 2 degrees — which will literally wipe entire nations off the map,” said Anne Peterman of Global Justice Ecology Project and Climate Justice Now! who joined the march out of the Bella Center today.

“I participated in this protest because climate change is already killing people in Africa.  This is an emergency and we need climate justice now!  We must acknowledge that we from the south are the real creditors and the governments of the North are the real debtors. They owe the world economic debt, ecological debt and climate debt and they must pay now!” said Mithika Mwenda, Pan African Climate Justice Alliance.

As broad frustration grows with the content and direction of the climate negotiations, two international networks of people’s movements, civil society groups, Indigenous Peoples Organizations and grassroots activists united to stage mass non-violent civil disobedience to expose the failure of the COP process. Representatives of these networks, Climate Justice Action and Climate Justice Now!, declared that, given the urgency of the climate crisis, it is time for dramatic action to expose the COP process as undemocratic, unjust and inadequate to deal with the scale of the problem. The “Reclaim Power” action on Wednesday December 16th involved thousands of activists simultaneously approaching the Conference centre from different starting points, and a mass of people walking out of the climate talks, to hold a ‘People’s Assembly’ a participatory platform for marginalized voices and real solutions to climate change. Despite significant violence from the police against non-violent protesters the groups did manage to meet and hold the assembly before marching triumphantly back to the city center to continue the work of building a broad based global climate justice movement.

“The solidarity we experienced today, in the face of police intimidation and repression, shows that people across the world are standing together to expose the failure of the COP to address the real causes of the climate crisis, and our determination to work together to bring about the changes needed to tackle climate change. The people feel strong together and we will go back home to build the movement for climate justice and for real solutions, ” said Kingkorn Narintarakul of the Thai Working Group for Climate Justice who, together with a delegation of Thai community activists, marched in today’s protest.

Unfortunately after today’s actions and the people assemble the Bella centre continues to be closed to all Non-Governmental Organizations and members of civil society. Among those locked out were leaders from the Indigenous Peoples caucus, young children and observers from across the globe aiming to support their governments. As Tom Goldtooth, director of the Indigenous Environmental Network who was also among those locked out of the building said “this is in direct contravention of our Human Rights under the United Nations Charter

“We have no more time to waste.  If governments won’t solve the problem then its time for our diverse people’s movements to unite and reclaim the power to shape our future. We are beginning this process with the people’s assembly.  We will join together all the voices that have been excluded—both within the process and outside of it. said Stine Gry, Climate Justice Action.

The Reclaim Power action brought together climate activists, representatives of climate-impacted communities and Indigenous peoples from around the world for a peoples assembly that took place outside the Bella Center. The range of actions included not only participants in the COP process walking out of the talks but also thousands of people who have been excluded from the talks making their way into the grounds of the Bella Center to call for Climate Justice.

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December 16th Reclaim Power Action for Climate Justice at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen

Photo: Langelle/GJEP-GFC

Photo: Langelle/GJEP-GFC

Photo: Langelle/GJEP-GFC

Photo: Langelle/GJEP-GFC

Wahu Carra, of the Kenyan Debt Relief Network and the Peoples Movement on Climate Change speaks to reporters prior to the Reclaim Power march at the Bella Center. Photo: Petermann/ GJEP-GFC

Reclaim Power marchers attempt to cross the bridge to join the peoples’ assembly. Photo: Petermann/ GJEP-GFC

Danish Police attempt to push back the Reclaim Power marchers using batons to hit people. Photo: Petermann/ GJEP-GFC

Danish Police rough up a reporter. Photo: Petermann/ GJEP-GFC

The police move in and violently repel the Reclaim Power marchers from the bridge. Photo: Petermann/ GJEP-GFC

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Filed under Actions / Protest, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Copenhagen/COP-15, Photo Essays by Orin Langelle

Press Release 12/16/09

PRESS RELEASE

December/15/09

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Kevin Smith +45 52 68 53 02
Anne Petermann +45 52 67 95 95

Civil Society Groups at COP15 denounce preemptive arrests of climate justice protestors in Copenhagen

UN COP critics silenced with police action as talks enter final days

Reclaim Power nonviolent civil disobiedience actions step off at 8 AM Wednesday

Copenhagen, Denmark — Dr. Tadzio Mueller of Berlin, an accredited NGO observer at the COP 15 was arrested today without provocation by three plain clothed police outside the Bella Center. His arrest took place shortly after a press conference where he and other representatives of civil society announced nonviolent protests planned for Wednesday in Copenhagen. (Today’s news conference is archived on video here: http://bit.ly/8eXDnI)

Danish police have also raided a Climate Justice Action convergence space today where activists were repairing bicycles to showcase fossil fuel alternatives, and arrested another 20 people outside of the official NGO summit “Klimaforum.” The arrests are continuing at the time of writing.

“The Danish police are clearly taking their cues from the Connie Hedegard and the Annex One posse who are trying to strong arm the world into accepting their agenda and silencing the thousands of people who have come to Copenhagen to demand action for climate justice,” said Dorothy Guerro, Senior Associate with Focus on the Global South, a founding organization of the Climate Justice Now Network. “First they shut the public out of the climate negotiations, then they shut out 80% of NGOs who have been accredited to attend, and now they are jailing people who challenge the undemocratic nature of the climate negotiations, while the future of life on earth literally hangs in the balance.”

“I wish I could say that I was surprised at this outrageous behavior, but I am not,” stated Anne Petermann, Executive Director of Global Justice Ecology Project, the group that hosted the press conference. “The UN Climate Convention has become increasingly unjust and repressive. The Danish Government, which is hosting the talks, is making back room deals with the U.S. and other Northern countries to sabotage any possibility of an effective and just climate agreement. It stands to reason that they would deploy their security and police forces to crush any dissent–especially if it is designed to build an effective international climate justice movement,” she continued.

“The lives of billions of people are literally on the line here at COP 15, but these negotiations have been focused on propping up the interests of elite countries and corporations rather than addressing the fossil fuel economy that threatens our collective survival,” stated Kevin Smith, of Climate Justice Action. “It is for this reason that we are gathering for the Reclaim Power protest and Peoples Plenary that will happen tomorrow at the UN Climate COP.”

Demonstrators will begin to gather at Tarnby station at 8 am on Wednesday the 16th for the Reclaim Power demonstration. This demonstration will involve 5-10,000 people who are unable to access the COP 15 talks, and who will be approaching the Bella Centre from the outside, as they join a simultaneous march out of the summit. The two marches will form a “Peoples Plenary” to discuss real solutions to the climate crisis and build international solidarity for climate justice.

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Filed under Actions / Protest, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Copenhagen/COP-15, Indigenous Peoples

Tar Sands Action in Copenhagen

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Filed under Actions / Protest, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Copenhagen/COP-15, Indigenous Peoples

Canadian First Nations People Protest the Tar Sands in Copenhagen

December 14, 2009

Canadian First Nations at COP 15 Roll Out the Welcome Mat for Stephen Harper in Rally at Canadian Embassy

“Hey Harper: Climate Commitments = Shut Down Tar Sands”

Copenhagen, Denmark – Indigenous Peoples of Canada and their allies from around the world are in Copenhagen for the UN summit on climate change. Today they rolled out the “welcome mat” for Prime Minister Stephen Harper near the Canadian Embassy in Copenhagen. This action was part of a global day of action against the Canadian tar sands. The tar sands are the largest and most carbon intensive industrial project on the planet. Indigenous leaders of communities impacted by the tar sands and allied campaigners contend that Canada hasn’t kept Kyoto commitments and hasn’t ratified the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) because of the half-trillion dollar investments the massive tar sands development represents.

In a gesture of hospitality for the Prime Minister and an act of solidarity with communities directly impacted by the tar sands, Indigenous representatives and their allies delivered a gift basket full of Treaties for Prime Minister Harper to honor and/or sign in Copenhagen. These included important documents such as the Kyoto Protocol, First Nations Treaties and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Tar Sands Protest

Indigenous Peoples' protest tar sands and they were stopped one half block short by police from going to the Canadian Embassy in Copenhagen. They rally did occur. There were no arrests/ photo: Langelle/GJEP-GFC

“As Indigenous People, we are here at the international climate negotiations to speak about threats to our cultural survival and the direct life-threatening impacts of climate change in our communities,” said Clayton Thomas Muller, Tar Sands Campaigner of the Indigenous Environmental Network. “Canada has been blocking the climate negotiations and hasn’t kept Kyoto commitments or ratified the UNDRIP because of the tar sands.”

“Fossil fuel extraction from the tar sands are killing our people with cancer, killing our culture by destroying our traditional lands, and killing our planet with CO2,” said Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, member of the Athbasca Chipewyan First Nation and Tar Sands Campaigner for the Rainforest Action Network. “It seems that Canada is more committed to fossil fuels than human rights or real action for the climate. Mr. Harper – We welcome you to Copenhagen because we want real action on climate, and that means shutting down the tar sands and a moratorium on new fossil fuel development.”

“The tar sands are a key reason why Canada has failed to take climate action. In the same timeframe that Harper promises to cut Canada’s emissions a paltry 3 per cent, tar sands emissions are expected to triple,” said Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians.

Today’s action is part of a global day of action organized by a coalition of groups including: Indigenous Environmental Network, Rainforest Action Network, Council of Canadians, Indigenous Peoples Power Project, and UK Tar Sands Group.

Actions are occurring in tandem with the Copenhagen events in London (UK), Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver and all across North America.

About Indigenous Environmental Network: Indigenous Peoples empowering Indigenous Nations and communities towards sustainable livelihoods, demanding environmental justice and maintaining the Sacred Fire of our traditions. <http://www.ienearth.org/cits>www.ienearth.org/cits

The Indigenous Environmental Network is in Copenhagen for the duration of COP 15. Copenhagen Media Line: +45-526-85596

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Filed under Actions / Protest, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Copenhagen/COP-15, Indigenous Peoples