transparency

So, last I left you I was headed out to the "massive" protest organized by the Climate Action Network.  The main point of this protest was to demand transparency from policy makers by breaking into the Bella Center during negotiations.  Of course, protesters did not even get close to breaking into the conference: thousands of police officers formed a blockade with roughly a half-mile radius around the Bella Center, and nobody was allowed to pass without a badge. Bus and Metro lines to the Bella Center were suspended for the day because of "crowd control." 

The protest was much smaller than expected - I'd guess roughly 1,500 people participated - and took place on a side street far away from the Bella Center, because it was impossible to get close. As protesters tried to pass the police blockade, they were immediately beaten, tear-gassed, or arrested by the police. (I've heard that Danish law enforcement uses a kind of tear gas that is banned in every other country in the world except Israel, but don't quote me on that.) After about an hour, police broke up the protest completely, declaring that anyone standing in the vicinity would be arrested. So I left, just to be safe.

Later, at Klimaforum (the people's climate summit), I was surprised to hear members of the morning's protest reflecting on how well the protest had turned out - they seemed to think that those who had fought the police were heroic.  Although I empathize with the protesters' desire for political transparency, I disagree with their tactics and their definition of success.  They acted as if the point of protest was to wage war against the police, when in fact they made no progress towards the goal of making the negotiations more accessible. If anything, by fighting the police, they probably alienated themselves even more from the political establishment.

The COP15 negotiators are all high-level politicians, and many of their decisions fail to take into account the needs of less powerful people. NGOs sent thousands of representatives to the conference to observe the negotiations and pressure the politicians to make fair agreements. But on Wednesday, no NGOs were allowed into the Bella Center after noon. By Friday, only 90 NGO reps will be permitted to enter the conference at all.  So I certainly understand the protesters' concerns about diminishing transparency - after all, I am one of those NGO reps who was kicked out of the conference. But I thought the protest was a dismal failure.

Lots more soon,

Natasha