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The clock is running in Copenhagen
As negotiations continue behind closed doors, the standoff between the UNFCC who are running the negotiations and NGOs from around the world is heating up. But many NGOs aren’t buying it and are furious – this picture came from Fred Heutte at Sierra Club just five minutes ago as NGOs were being escorted out by security. Meanwhile, time is ticking as heads of state arrive to confront stalled negotiations.
I asked David Waskow of Oxfam for his assessment of where things stand with the negotiations. He stressed to me the need for real leadership from the heads of state in the final hours, if we are to succeed.
Friends of the Earth and Avaaz have been barred from the conference center, and Avaaz reports that it was because some individuals participated in unauthorized actions inside the Bella Center yesterday. Meanwhile, with 45,000 registered participants for the COP and the Executive Secretary Yvo De Boer saying that fire regulations only permit 15,000 in the building at a time, NGO access has been slashed across the board and there is a parallel summit forming outside the center. Here is an explanation from someone promoting it in the line outside this morning.
As soon as I got inside, I ran into a sit-in by Friends of the Earth and many other NGOs. Secretary de Boer arrived shortly after I did to address them with a press swarm surrounding him. Here’s my flip cam video of the discussion, in which he said that he was between a rock and a hard place – that the fire department would only allow 15,000 in the building and 45,000 are registered, and that there are security concerns with so many heads of state arriving.
Minutes ago, a crowd of youth, activists, indigenous peoples, and perhaps some delegates, burst in chants of “Climate Justice Now!” and “Reclaim Power!” in the middle of the Bella Center where the Copenhagen Climate Talks are being held. Instantly surrounded by cameras and media, the group began a march out of the center towards the gates of the building where as many as 10,000 people are planning to meet them in what organizers are calling the Reclaim Power action. This is a live webcam of the ongoing action.
The BBC is reporting that hundreds of people have already been arrested this morning as thousands more march on the Bella Center. It will be a challenge for them to get very close to the negotiations. As Adrian Wilson reports, security is tight around the conference venue with chain link fences, concrete walls, and hundreds of police and what looked like Danish military blocking the roadways — someone with in line this morning reported seeing a water cannon with security forces.
Meanwhile, Secretary de Boer announced that Connie Hedegaard has resigned as President of the COP. Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen submitted a letter appointing himself as president of the COP, and Hedegaard has been appointed special representative of the Presidency to conduct informals and negotiations.
The presidency will propose two texts for the outcome in both the Kyoto track and the long term cooperative action track. Apparently this resignation was expected as a formality when the heads of state arrived...
