Wow! it’s big here!!
Friday,11 December 2009 by MikeHarris
Arrived last night in Copenhagen to help out with alternative media here in Copenhagen and struck by the size of this beast, which reflects the enormity of the issues at stake here. Copenhagen is not a big city and so it’s relatively easy to get from one place to another, but with numerous different conferences, from the main COP15 Climate Talks and surrounding sub-conferences at the Bella Centre, to the alternative Klimaforum09 set up by the Danish authorities for NGOs and other social movement groups, to the daily protests, to the many spaces for activists and protesters to stay at (and the hotels for the delegates) to the Candy Factory, where a mass bike workshop is recycling bikes left around the city for activists to use, to the kitchens set-up to feed activists, it’s all a little overwhelming.
I’m currently sat in the alternative media centre writing this blog, we’ve got a media centre running here with people from all of Europe producing video, taking photos and writing reports. You can follow some of the stuff coming out of here by following Indymedia Denmark.
Today there was the first of many grass roots demonstrations where activists took to the streets to highlight the cynical tactics of the corporations involved in the talks and in particular their greenwashing exercise called Bright Green, taking place at Copenhagen’s Forum centre for glossy concerts and glitzy trade shows. Activists made their voices heard, and will do again tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that. Whether our leaders will listen, which I sincerely hope they do, is one thing, but what we will know is that we are many, a global movement of people who believe in social justice and reclaiming our future.
Tags: climate change, COP15, cop15 copenhagen social justice independent media, Copenhagen, UNFCCC