After a week of bleak cloudy weather, the skies cleared on Saturday as the sun shone on tens of thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets of Copenhagen to demand a global deal from world leaders to tackle climate change.
The Danish capital resembled a military zone as almost the entire Danish police force were deployed to prepare for as many as 80,000 activists from across the world who converged on the city for the demonstrations.
Authorities had also rounded up dozens of anti-capitalist demonstrators the day before, in a bid to prevent possible violence. Helicopters buzzed in the skies while armoured police vans and canine squads patrolled the streets, amid fears that the march could be joined by violent far-left groups.
“It looks almost like a war zone, with police everywhere, but I’m so excited to be here participating in my first demonstration,” said Singaporean student Sharon Tan, 18, who flew to the city to take part in the demonstrations and be an observer of the summit.
Hours before the protests were due to kick off in Copenhagen, protestors from Australia to dozen locations across Asia were already out in full force holding their own demonstrations to urge action from negotiators at the climate conference.
In Australia, 50,000 people wearing sky-blue shoelaces, took to the streets nationwide, while in Hong Kong, people including children dressed as pandas, held life rings bearing the slogan “Climate Change Kills. Act Now. Save Lives.”
Elsewhere, Indonesians rallied in front of the US embassy in Jakarta calling for help for developing nations in reducing greenhouse gases.
In Copenhagen, protesters streaming in by bus, train, plane and boat from a dozen locations across Europe swamped the Parliament Square (Christiansborg) as Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo gave a rallying speech against a backdrop of 18 giant ship sails with climate messages, marking a historic day of the largest climate action ever by civil societies worldwide.
“It’s awe-inspiring to be here, and I really hope this demonstration will urge leaders to do the right thing for climate change,” said Ms Tan.
At 2pm, demonstrators chanting slogans and waving banners began their six kilometre march, organised by 515 organisations from 67 countries, towards Bella Centre, the venue for the United Nations climate change conference.
Inside the venue, marchers participated in a mass “climate dance-off”, which was followed by a candlelight vigil led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Ireland president Mary Robinson from The Elders, which called for a successful climate change global deal.
The 18 sails were also handed over to UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer, signifying the delivery of people’s demands for a fair binding deal directly to the decision makers.
Yesterday marked the midpoint of the summit, where negotiations have been gridlocked between developed and developing countries for the last five days without much progress.
Pledges made to cut heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions are far below what scientists say is needed to keep global temperatures from rising to potentially catastrophic levels.
A draft agreement was circulated on Friday to the 192-nation conference, which set no firm figures on financing or on cutting emissions, and left open the form of the agreement - whether it will be a legally binding treaty or a political declaration.
European leaders had announced in Brussels that they would commit 2.4 billion euros a year until 2012 to a short-term fund for poor countries, but this has been slammed by the developing nations bloc of G77 as “insignificant”.
Campaigner Jennifer Rubis, from the Indigenous Peoples Network of Malaysia, told The Straits Times at the march that she hopes the leaders won’t disappoint the world by failing to agree on a final text.
“With this demonstration, we want to show political leaders that we are concerned about the state of our earth and we want a fair and just deal on climate change,” she said.
The conference will pause on Sunday as ministers from the 194 parties begin to arrive. At least 110 heads of state, including US president Barack Obama, are due at climax of the summit on December 18.
