Climate talks stall on Day 10 amid eruptions by protesters
Danish police surround protesters. Courtesy Matthew McDermott, Flickr Creative Commons
The first week of the historic UN Climate Change Conference has come and gone.
Gone too were members of the G77 representing 130 countries and some indigenous groups, who staged a five-hour walk out on Monday over concerns the Kyoto Protocol was being abandoned.
The talks resumed only to stall again today, this time for what the poorer nations say is the failure of richer countries to make solid commitments to verifiably reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and to finance poorer countries, some many already affected by climate disruptions, who lack financial means to fund climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.
Protests erupted today both inside and outside the Bella Center, the site of the talks. A protest inside the center by the Indigenous Environmental Network criticized a proposed deal under the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries, or REDD, that would compensate developing countries for protecting their forest lands as designated “carbon sinks.”
The only meaningful deal will give indigenous peoples the right “to say no to any development in their area,” said Jihan Gearon, IEN’s lead climate and energy organizer.
Outside the center today, police pepper-sprayed and beat back hundreds of demonstrators demanding a firm agreement as they tried to disrupt the 193-nation conference, including 50 to 100 delegates who were trying to meet with the protestors.
Among the 250 arrested were spokespeople for Climate Justice Action, a global network of non-governmental organizations. CJA spokesperson Dan Glall told Inter Press Service that, “As a condition for going back to the negotiations we demand industrialized nations uphold the Kyoto Protocol, commit adequate funds to adaptation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly.”
Activists complained that too many members of non-governmental organizations and grassroots organizers were not allowed access to the talks due to capacity limitations. The removal of NGOs “underscores the lack of democracy inherent in these negotiations,” said Michael Dorsey of the protest-organizing Climate Justice Now! Network. Dorsey said the United Nations process is failing the world’s marginalized countries and that it consistently excludes those that support and are fighting on behalf of those countries.
Also barred from the talks were scores of legitimate accredited news reporters and other accredited individuals due to an over-capacity of space.
Two critical days remain to sign a new agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol to fight global climate change.
Terri Hansen
December 16, 2009
