Shoved to the sidelines? Danish demo turns nasty
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Developing countries were in open revolt against developed countries at the Copenhagen summit today, again saying they're being sidelined. Meanwhile, police have been busy breaking up a demonstration of people from all over the world who want to make their voices heard at the summit.
The march got off to a peaceful start, but the police presence was heavy from the start. The route took demonstrators down two main roads to the Bella Centre where the UN climate talks are being held.
People from around the globe had come to make their voices heard and protest against what they called the inability of politicians to do something about climate change and their unwillingness to listen to the people.
Arian Rivera from Manilla in the Philippines representing the Jubilee South movement explains: "There are members from Africa, from Latin America and Asian Pacific. We're bringing the people's voice to those negotiators inside the Bella Centre. For how many days now, they haven't achieved a binding agreement on cuts in emissions," he said.
Benni Colula travelled from India to take part in the demonstration. He said the concept of democracy inside the COP negotiations had been completely undermined. "We've seen walk-outs by developing countries, we've seen leaked texts from the Danish government, we've seen corporate lobbying - and when governments fail, it's time for people to go to the COP and tell people to walk out and reclaim democracy. That's why we're here," he says.
The demonstration was peaceful until it reached the perimeter of the Bella Centre, where world leaders like UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez already are working on the high-level final part of the summit.
Police in riot gear were protecting the fenced-off area around the centre, and prevented a group of NGOs from inside the conference from joining the demonstrators outside.
Clashes between police and protesters broke out when police declared the demonstration illegal, and moved in with tear gas and batons to clear people from the area.
Read Euranet correspondent Florin Orban's account of a summit under siege in our Copenhagen Atmosphere blog.
