Day 2 – Police repression and political inaction

The Climate Forum is invaded everywhere by campaigns for the most diverse causes, from vegetarianism to indigenous rights or the workers’ rights. ActionAid (link) had several “debt collecting agents” to collect the ecological debt from the rich countries, just to give an example of a great idea.

We rarely hear someone with the neo-liberal speech that has become a common place in many big NGO’s. Most of the participants are well aware of the dangers of free markets and are critical of greenwashing campaigns. One often quoted example of greenwashing is Hopenhagen (link), which gather some big corporate criminals around a campaign for climate action. One of the companies involved is Vattenfall, which operates several coal-fired power stations. This is how far hipocrisy can go here in Copenhagen.

The World Rainforest Movement (link) presented a debate on REDD, which counted with the participation of many indigenous peoples. On another room, Tim Jackson talked of his report “Prosperity without growth” (link) and argued for the overcoming of individualism and materialism. Sophy Banks, from the Transitions Towns Movement (link), gave examples on how this could be achieved at the local level. The movement gathers citizens all over the world making efforts to reduce the consumption of energy and other resources in their communities and has drawn the attention of the media and the politicians.

At the end of the day, the Social and Climate Justice Caravan (link) arrives from Geneva, where it had been protesting against WTO. They were welcomed with an applause.

In the COP, nothing is going on. Today the World Meteorological Organization warned that this is the hottest decade ever and that 2009 is the 5th warmest year on record. But this doesn’t upset industrialized countries’ delegates.

Police repression also continues hand-in-hand with political inaction. At 3 am, Ragnhilhade center, where activists are sleeping, was stormed by the police. Several tools and materials important to guarantee the well-being of the ones sleeping there were confiscated.

For more news, check out the second issue of Climate Chronicle (PDF), where you’ll find an article by Naomi Klein and an interview to Annie Leonard, the maker of “The story of cap and trade” (link).