I'm here! I arrived in Copenhagen at three in the afternoon, just as the sun was beginning to set. It's now one in the morning, and I've already decided that this is probably the best city I've ever been to, and that socialism rocks. There are exactly zero Starbucks Coffee Houses here - instead, there are plenty of adorable, distinctive cafes and pubs. Actually, "adorable" is a good word to describe pretty much everything here in Denmark: the narrow cobblestone streets, the sleek bicycles with baskets attached, the pervasive holiday decorations, the street musicians, etcetera. In other exciting news, it is legal for me to walk into an above-mentioned adorable establishment and order a hot mug of "glog" - an incredible spiced cider/wine brew made specially for the holidays. The bad news: the glog costs 39 kroners, or about seven USDs. And everything else is just as expensive - even water, when you order it at a restaurant, costs about 35 kroners per jug. So I guess I'm going to be living off crackers and peanut butter for the rest of the week. Either that or I'll be very irresponsible and squander all my savings on more adorable, delectable Danish fare. We'll see.
Anyway, on to the important stuff: COP15, and the pending fate of our warming planet. The intensity of the climate change negotiations is tangible throughout the city. Every cafe and metro car is filled with delegates and activists from all over the world, and police and emergency personnel are swarming in the streets. In every public square, there are exhibits and art installations addressing climate change. People are handing out literature, and walking around in costumes. Protestors nearly shut down the entire city this afternoon, marching towards the Bella Center (the main convention center for the conference) carrying signs that said "climate action now" and "there is no planet B." City authorities had anticipated the protest to be 60,000 strong, but by the end of the day, rumor had it that more than 100,000 demonstrators showed up. By the time my group joined the protest, it was dark and freezing outside, so most remaining protestors were starting fires in the middle of the streets to gather around, and singing and dancing and making music. It was exhilarating to be there, in the middle of all of it, but I also felt the urgency of the situation: 100,000 people gathered to demand immediate, drastic, change on a global scale. That's indicative of just how drastic our current situation is.
We had dinner at a cozy Italian restaurant, and of course the two men at the table next to ours were heatedly discussing the climate conference. It turned out that they were delegates from the USA Environmental Protection Agency, whose job it is to unite all the international, environmental NGOs involved in climate issues. Their job is not going smoothly. Apparently, all the NGOs sharply disagree about how climate change should be solved. As if disputes between all the nations of the world weren't enough.
"Networking" had begun: the delegates filled us in on some of the latest developments of the conference:
- the G-77, (the alliance of "developing" nations) is breaking apart, due to differences between poor island nations and rising superpowers like India and China. The poor island nations, most notably Tuvalu, are calling for a strictly enforced ceiling for greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. China, India, and Saudia Arabia don't want to commit to such a limit, fearing that it will stunt their economic growths. If greenhouse gas emissions are not sharply reduced in the very near future, many of the island nations will sink under rising seas, displacing millions of their inhabitants.
- at the same time, no climate policy can be effective unless the US is completely committed to it. And right now, it looks like the US will not commit to anything concrete by the end of the summit. The American negotiators say they are willing to accept much of the blame for climate change on behalf of the United States, but they will not accept the punishment - the payment of reparations to underdeveloped and developing nations. China says they will not commit to any concrete agreement unless the US pays reparations. US Congressmen say they will not ratify a climate treaty unless China is also on board. Etcetera, etcetera: you see the difficulty.
Meanwhile, I get the impression that much of the international community is disgusted with the US right now. At the protest tonight, I saw a giant model of the statue of liberty, hung with a sign that read: "freedom to destroy the world."
But I have hope for these negotiations. I bet you many good things will come out of them - maybe not the big, great thing we need, but progress. There are so many hopeful, passionate people here, gathering together, that I know they can't fail.
Also, on the flight over here, I finished reading a book called "The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependancy to Local Resilience," and it was all about how local communities have incredible power to change society. It reminded me that the fate of our planet is not entirely dependent on big-cheese politicians - that you and me, too, have the power to "make a difference," if we join together.
Okay, I have to go recover from jet lag. More soon!
yours,
Natasha Joyce Weidner
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