News: ‘COP15’ Archive
Copenhagen, Dec 16, 2009
Protesters momentarily interrupted the proceedings in the plenary hall with chants of “climate justice now”. Many in the plenary showed support for the protesters, applauding while the chanting continued until the next speaker stepped up to the podium.
Copenhagen, Dec 16, 2009
Today the Bella Center Metro stop was shut down in an attempt by police to prevent demonstrators, now adopting decentralized tactics, from reaching the Bella Center and trying to set up a ‘People’s Assembly’ inside. Here demonstrator Stellan Vinthagen, PhD, of the University of Gotherburn, Sweden, speaks about the protests. Stellan’s comments are followed by a brief view showing the COP 15 participants entering the Bella Center after making their way back form the next station.
Report by James George
Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen will replace Connie Hedegaard as President of the COP, who resigned after a short time in the post. The reasoning given to explain this change is somewhat hard to follow. From a press release:
“As a consequence of the unprecedented number of Heads of State and Government who have started to arrive in Copenhagen to participate in climate negotiations, Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen will, from the beginning of the High-Level Segment, take the chair as president of the COP and the COP/CMP.”
Copenhagen, December 15, 2009
In an impassioned speech at the COP 15 today, Al Gore pushed for a successful political outcome in Copenhagen, to be followed by a final legal agreement in Mexico city in June or July next year. Although he said he was open to other price mechanisms for carbon, he argued that a globally coordinated carbon tax would be far more complicated than cap and trade.
Gore also proposed making the 40th anniversary of the first Earthday to be set as the final deadline for the passage of a U.S. climate bill.
report by James George
Copenhagen, Dec 15 2009.
Today star power was invoked to add additional momentum for an agreement in Copenhagen with the appearance of California’s movie star climate friendly governor. His jovial attitude was well received, obviously a welcome change of pace for those in the packed hall.
In a possible preemptive attempt to soften the blow from what could be a weak or even non-agreement conclusion to the COP 15 negotiations, Schwarzenegger redefined the meaning of success in Copenhagen, scaling dramatically back from the goal of a legally binding emissions reduction agreement to “the ability to think again”. He then pitched the idea of a U.N. climate summit for the region level which could be held in California.
“And perhaps the real success of Copenhagen is to give us the opportunity to think differently again. Perhaps the success comes in realizing that something different needs to be done and in fact is already being done. It is being done on the sub-national level. And I would ask the U.N. to convene a climate summit like Copenhagen, but for cities, for states, for provinces, and for regions. And would be more than happy to host such a summit in California – or anywhere else the U.N. wants to hold it, but I recommend strongly in California. People like coming to California, love our state.”
Copenhagen, Dec 15, 2009
There was a press conference today on Nigerian rainforests and REDD:
“More than 90% of Nigeria’s rainforest is gone. The remaining 10% of Nigeria’s rain forest is found in the south of Nigeria, and over half of what is left is only found in cross river states. The rate of deforestation across Nigeria as a whole but Southern Nigeria in particular, is 2% a year, and that is one of the highest rates of deforestation anywhere in the world. And I think over 55% of Nigeria’s carbon emissions come from deforestation, far outweighing Nigeria’s carbon emissions from transport or from industry or any other form, so REDD and addressing land use change is actually critical for Nigeria bringing down its emissions.”
“And I think, if the rate of deforestation continue unchecked, we could see the disappearance of cross river states rainforests within the next 10 to 15 years maximum. ”
“The overall size of the forest – about 800,000 hectares of tropical rainforest.”
Report by James George
The Copenhagen Theme song (Secret of the Seasons) by John Ungerleider has been set to video clips from COP 15 and the Copenhagen climate march.
Copenhagen, Dec 13, 2009
Today, United States Secretary of Energy Steven Chu spoke in Copenhagen at Bright Green on alternative energy development and innovation.
Of note are his comments in support of nuclear power in part two beginning at 5:57 where he states that he believes the waste problem can be solved.
Partial Excerpt:
“I personally feel that nuclear power has to be part of the mix of the century because it is carbon free and it is baseload. I believe the nuclear reactors are much safer, the designs today.”
“So what are the issues? Are they going to be economical number one, and if they are designed properly we hope so. Are they going to be safe? The other thing is waste. I think the nuclear waste issue is a solvable problem, we know a lot more than the United States knew twenty five years ago…”
“To my mind the more serious problem which will require international cooperation is non-proliferation, once you have nuclear reactors, you could have, you have the option possibly of turning some of that into some bomb material, but, I think, again that is solvable.”
These comments contrasted sharply with comments by Dr. Helen Caldicott, who spoke inside the COP 15 and at the Copenhagen climate march the day earlier. Helen Caldicott stated that a nuclear reactor produces 250 kg of plutonium per year, and that 5 kg of plutonium is enough to produce a weapon.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Copenhagen, Dec 12, 2009
Helen Caldicott spoke this evening near the end of the Copenhagen climate march denouncing nuclear power and nuclear weapons.
Partial Text of Helen Caldicott’s Speech:
“Hello. The Earth is in the intensive care unit, it is acutely sick. We are all now physicians to a dying planet. We have to stop spending 1.7 trillion dollars on weapons and death. We have to make the politicians understand science. We have to make the politicians take responsibility not just for us, but all future generations yet to be born. ”
“The nuclear power industry have used global warming to say “we’re the answer”. All the money to go into nuclear power, 15 billion dollars per power plant, is being stolen from the solutions to fix the earth – solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, conservation. ”
“The nuclear power industry is wicked. The nuclear power industry was formed by the bomb makers – it’s the same thing. Nuclear power plants are bomb factories – they make plutonium. 250 kilos a year of plutonium that lasts for 250,000 years. You need 5 kilos to make a nuclear bomb. Any country that has a nuclear power plant has a bomb factory. ”
“If the second World War was fought today in Europe none of you would be here, Europe would be a radioactive wasteland, because all the nuclear power plants would melt down like Chernobyl. So war is now impossible in Europe. Do the politicians understand that? Nuclear power produces massive quantities, hundreds of thousands of tons of radioactive waste, which will get into the water concentrate into the fish, the milk, the food, human breast milk, fetuses, babies, children. Radioactive iodine causes thyroid cancer. 12,000 people in Belarus had thyroid cancer. Radioactive Strontium 90 causes bone cancer and leukemia, lasts for 600 years. Cesium 137 – all over Europe now – in the reindeer in the lands, in the food, lasts for six hundred years, causes brain cancer. Plutonium, the most dangerous substance on Earth, 1 millionth of a gram cause cancer, lasts for 250,000 years. Causes lung cancer, liver cancer, testicular cancer, damages fetuses so they are born deformed. Nuclear power therefore nuclear waste for all future generation will of cancer in young children because they are very sensitive, genetic disease, congenital deformities. Nuclear power is about disease, and it’s about death. It will produce the greatest public health hazard the world has ever seen for the rest of time. We must close down every single nuclear reactive in Europe and throughout the world…”
Report by James George
Copenhagen, Dec 12, 2009
Tom Goldtooth spoke this evening near the conclusion of the Copenhagen climate march on Indigenous Peoples rights and climate justice.
Text of Statement:
“Hej Kobenhavn!”
“It’s good to be here and it’s really good that you welcomed the Indigenous Peoples of the world. Our mother Earth is all of your mother Earth. As we came here as Indigenous People from every region of the Earth to demand that our rights be recognized by these governmental leaders, because if were going to have climate justice it’s that they have to recognize the collective, the human rights with an ‘s’ as people so that our rights will be recognized. Because we come from different parts of the world where we know that global warming is real, we know that climate change is real.”
“We come from people from South America, people from Africa, people from Australia, the Adivasi from India, the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific, from Asia, and Indigenous Peoples near the Artic areas. They are experiencing the reality that their ice is melting and that their ice culture is on the verge of destruction. So that’s why we are here asking for your support, as people here at Copenhagen, people of the world to stand up, not only for the rights of Indigenous Peoples, but your rights as people of the world, people of civil society.”
“We are witnessing something here in this Conference of the Party fifteen, where a lot of our world leaders are not negotiating for you, but they are negotiating for the corporations. I come from the reality of the belly of the beast. Our Indigenous Peoples from the United States. We know what it means to go without. We know when we talk about an energy system that is unsustainable. We know when were talking about climate that affects our food systems so when we demand food security, food sovereignty as a result of climate change, we know what were talking about. We know when there’s drought and we have no more water. We have Indigenous People who have the smallest carbon footprint in this world, but yet we are having the highest level, the highest level of health imparities. We have the highest level of environmental destruction as a result of a fossil fuel industry that is killing our people. We have to turn the fossil fuel system and make a transition away from that into a clean renewable energy system. ”
“We are talking about systemic change – systemic change away from a system that is killing the world. Our Indigenous Peoples and our elders they say that there will be a time when the trees will start dying from the top down. So we are here as Indigenous Peoples demanding that rights to be recognized, but we are also standing here with you, the people of the world, that it’s time for us to take over these negotiations and give these negotiations humanity, and respect for your mothers, respect for our brothers, respect for our elders and our youth, and our future generations, whatever they don’t do or do do is going to affect our younger generation. So I’m proud to be here from our people in Minnesota, and in New Mexico, our Navaho Indian Nation, our Lakota, our Sioux people, … to stand with all our relations. ”
Brief Interview with Tom Goldtooth:
“We’re here as people of the world, the planet,our mother Earth – and who best can speak for mother Earth but the Indigenous Peoples, and we’re here to demand justice, not only for ourselves, but also justice for humanity”
Report by James George