Blog
Copenhagen Day Six: Walk the Talk
12 Dec 2009—The big event of the day was the popular demonstration with over 100,000 people representing all the world´s people, hundreds of countries and a wide range of organizations. The Guardian (UK) misreported the numbers at 30,000 despite the police count, announced at the rally that launched the six km march, of over 100,000. The Guardian blocked all comments on its story which gave almost exclusive coverage and the only photo to alleged violence on the part of some demonstrators. In fact the march was full of art, humor and diversity. It was family-friendly with all ages represented. The very long stretch of people marching between the central square of Copenhagen from where we started to the Bella Centre where, begin police guard, the delegates were meeting was brought up in the end by an assorted group not evidently linked to any major organization such as the Greenpeace bloc or the Via Campesina bloc. This tail-end group was separated off by the police at about 4 pm and arrested. Some 300, we were told by coordinators from Via Campesina who were on cell phones, were being held by the police. At this point I moved further forward in the demonstration to join with the ´System Change Not Climate Charge´ bloc to try to find out more about those arrested. I found out that there was to be another demonstration later that night at 9 pm in order to demand the release of those being held. The gathering was very near the prison. As it turned out, I did not go but I will report in my next entry on what happened. We were surprised to find that the press were reporting 900 arrested.
Earlier, before the march, we (Terran Giacomini and I) attended a seminar at the Klimaforum on food sovereignty where Vandana Shiva along with Maurice Strong and others were speaking to a gathering of some 400. The issues of getting sufficient land and support for small farmers, was aired. This is a crucial international issue with speakers from Zambia, Canada and the UK outlining various approaches to securing land and support. It was clear that only a concerted effort in land reform and small farmer reintegration with local supply networks would be adequate to the tremendous need on this front. The domination of large corporations and their destructiveness right along the supply chain is so pervasive that only a national and globally coordinated move to take back land and the infrastructures required for healthy food production is adequate to address this core crisis of capitalism.
As we left this session at about 12 noon the thousands of people crowded into the Klimaforum building were gearing up for the demonstration with costumes, floats and banners of all description at the ready. Face painting proceeded apace. We walked the short distance to the central square with its spectacular 17th century buildings and art. We donned out costumes which consisted of capes on which we had sewed statements including
- Grow peace
- Shut em down leave it in the ground
- Tar sands = ecocide
- Stop climate crimes
We also had a large banner of red cloth on which we had sewed big white letters that said ´Canadians blame Canada´ and when we displayed this banner we got considerable attention from the Canadians in the congregation. Some were studying in Europe. Others came from Canada. Two Osgoode Hall law students from York University were attracted by the banner and told us they thought the effort by some in authority in Canada to paint protesters against the tar sands as terrorists was wrong and misguided. We were heartened by the fact that conscious young people were pursuing law with a view to defend the environment and to defend those who defend the environment. Later we met a young activist from Spain who has credentials to get inside the formal meeting at the Bella Centre. He reported that Bolivia´s representatives were making a very strong case in prominent contributions to the effect that nature has to be considered within a rights framework. Ecological rights should be written into constitutional and other kinds of law, argue the Bolivians. They urge that the climate laws emerging from the United Nations process (UNCCC) at this Conference of the Parties (COP) number 15 include the criminalization of destruction of the environment which is so directly related to the survival and well-being of people and all life.
Back to the demonstration. We heard a few speeches, very short. We were in the middle of an effort by agent provocateurs (we thought) who were climate change deniers. While there were only about 10 of them, all from the USA, the media who were on a raised platform, gave them a tremendous amount of attention. Then one of the deniers jostled a Japanese man with whom I had been chatting earlier. He was carrying a huge Japanese flag on a long wooden poll. He reacted to the shoving by the climate change denier by striking him with the flag pole in the chest, felling him and causing a mild panic amongst the people immediately around. The Japanese man disappeared and all calmed down. Quickly other groups moved in front of the climate change deniers to block the view of the photographers on the media platform. So here we saw what was probably an agent provocateur action geared to spark violence, insecurity and most important, the attention of the media.
As the march proceeded, we found the Via Campesina bloc and after discussion with the marshals, joined them. There were rules such as sit down if any provocation emerges and beware of others who might try to join the contingent with a view to causing trouble or discrediting Via Campesina. We had a truck filled with a sound system, two DJs and several speakers at the front of this bloc, and directly behind the truck were five people carrying a large manner. Behind that were about 300 people in this bloc. The day was beautiful and people were hanging out of windows and on their balconies throughout this beautiful old city.
Some of the slogans and statements that we saw are listed here:
- Stop Coalonialism
- Take back the commons
- Act Now
- Demand Climate Justice
- Save our planet
- Save Me (a remarkable man in an inflatable boat who was completely on his own, being carried by people in the demonstration and being passed from hand to hand, crying save me, save me)
- Many polar bears, sea horses, fish, penguins and other endangered species were represented
- Don´t nuke the planet
- Walk the Talk
- Climate emergency
- Save my kids
- Food sovereignty can cool down the Earth
- Earth - help, help
- End agrofuel use
- No more fossil politicians
- Smash Capitalism
- Make love not CO2
- There is no Planet B
- Nature doesn’t compromise
- Now me?, Now you?
- We want woods
- Think
- Save the planet, scrap capitalism
- Change the politics not the climate
- Karl Marx (a huge puppet of him) Its the economy stupid!
- Bla bla bla - Act now
- A massive puppet of a starving cow: Hungry for climate justice
- Give your clothes a second life, it has not to be new to be in fashion
- nothing goes to waste
- Eating meat consumes the earth
- save mother Earth and the childrens’ future now
- not a single step backwards
- socialist planning needed
- don’t trash the people
- a new greed deal
- I love the world but capitalism is an asshole
- global warming is the highway to hell
- nuclear 0 indefensible
- no nuclear, go green
- save the planet 0 fewer pigs
- let the rich pay
- toxic capitalism
- class struggle
- reclaim the farms
- reclaim power
- in a police state system change means workers revolution
- the crisis is a crisis of confidence
- the world wants a real deal
- keep the oil in the ground
- survival is not negotiable
- desperate grandmas
- planet not profit
- rich countries, pay your climate debt
- sustainable peasant agriculture cools the earth
- vegan
- our world is not for sale, stop capitalist globalisation
- admit and pay back your climate debts
- resistance is ripe
- family farming
- biodiversity
- pacha mama is dying act now
- fck fck fck the system
- our future gambled away
- politricks as usual
- bicycles - use in case of global warming
- think green (the cannibis party of Denmark)
- lights off, nature on
- fuck green capitalism we want communism and many others….
Thats all for now as I rush for the Klimaforum and a special demonstration organized by Via Campesina (to which Canada´s national Farmers Union is affiliated).
PS - there was a small group of open fascists (were they police too?) at the demonstration and i have a photo of one who threw a rock that broke a window of the stock exchange in the city,s central area. The fascists were wearing swastikas and completely black outfits with ski masks on.
Terisa
