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100,000 people marched in Copenhagen from the Danish Parliament to just outside the Bella Center, the site of the UN climate change conference.
The world-renowned Indian environmental leader and thinker Vandana Shiva spoke before thousands at Saturday's protest in Copenhagen.
Pull up your delegates KATE HORNER: So, ministers are--right now we have delegations here. These are negotiators. These are often technocrats who are coming here to lobby on behalf of their countries. Ministers, who are going to come on the weekend, are going to have to engage on some of the political questions... We know of a couple of examples already. In Barcelona, the Algerian delegate led the African Group in a very strong demand to focus the negotiations on emissions reductions, what's at the heart of this, and he was lambasted. And we don't know exactly what happened; this is all speculation on my part. But he was called home halfway through the meeting, because one of his family members was sick. What we hear is that he was under pressure, that there were European capitals calling home and asking them to rein in their delegates. We also know that another strong negotiator, who speaks--who formerly spoke on behalf of the Philippines, was kicked off the delegation. She is one of the lead voices of developing countries in trying to secure a just and equitable outcome. And we see that she's come under pressure and has been kicked off. It's kind of amazing, but these are the tactics that we see. One of the things that I think has been incredible--I know that you reported earlier on African civil society demanding more aggressive targets earlier this week. One of the things that they said is that they intend to stand boldly behind those countries that are supporting the strong demands of Africa, and they will not accept any of these kind of pressure tactics. So they're really acting very strongly to support their delegates, which is a great thing.
We know of a couple of examples already. In Barcelona, the Algerian delegate led the African Group in a very strong demand to focus the negotiations on emissions reductions, what's at the heart of this, and he was lambasted. And we don't know exactly what happened; this is all speculation on my part. But he was called home halfway through the meeting, because one of his family members was sick. What we hear is that he was under pressure, that there were European capitals calling home and asking them to rein in their delegates.
We also know that another strong negotiator, who speaks--who formerly spoke on behalf of the Philippines, was kicked off the delegation. She is one of the lead voices of developing countries in trying to secure a just and equitable outcome. And we see that she's come under pressure and has been kicked off. It's kind of amazing, but these are the tactics that we see.
One of the things that I think has been incredible--I know that you reported earlier on African civil society demanding more aggressive targets earlier this week. One of the things that they said is that they intend to stand boldly behind those countries that are supporting the strong demands of Africa, and they will not accept any of these kind of pressure tactics. So they're really acting very strongly to support their delegates, which is a great thing.
Tuvalu Interrupts Copenhagen Summit: "So we are saying, as the Tck Tck Tck campaign and Greenpeace, that it's not over until it's over. And, in fact, you know the phrase when you say, "It ain't over until the fat lady sings"? We are saying it ain't over 'til the thin man from the United States sings--President Obama--because he has the power to make the difference here. And so, basically the real issue here is about the legally binding, because basically all these small developing countries and citizens across the world know from UN summits that if you don't get a binding treaty, no implementation takes place. And this is one summit we have to have a real road map that has specific benchmarks and targets and that is binding, because time is running out very, very fast for the planet.So we are saying, as the Tck Tck Tck campaign and Greenpeace, that it's not over until it's over. And, in fact, you know the phrase when you say, "It ain't over until the fat lady sings"? We are saying it ain't over 'til the thin man from the United States sings--President Obama--because he has the power to make the difference here. And so, basically the real issue here is about the legally binding, because basically all these small developing countries and citizens across the world know from UN summits that if you don't get a binding treaty, no implementation takes place. And this is one summit we have to have a real road map that has specific benchmarks and targets and that is binding, because time is running out very, very fast for the planet." Developing nations end Copenhagen "boycott". "The summit was suspended briefly after G77-China bloc, made up of 130 nations, staged a walkout over what it called a violation of the democratic process by the Danish hosts, but the summit resumed Monday afternoon after delegates from the bloc returned, the BBC reported.
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Some people will not roll. Fuck your dispair. Solidarność! Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
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