I'm very close to the action - our office building is second neighbor to COP15 :-)
This is what I get from local news:
* Demonstrators. The police got some extra tools (laws) just before COP15, which they are using with big success, so lawful demos go nicely, violence seems to be avoided, that's nice. The Police has created a special "climate prison" which is used well and which is under surveillance by the Danish ombudsman. Fortunately, most demonstrators seem to agree to non-violence, that's great.
* Practical arrangement: U.N. has not provided enough staff to accredit guests, and have rejected to get help from Danish authorities. This gives long queues, which is rather ridiculous. If the Danish authorities had the responsibility for that, it would have been a major political problem for the government - but I guess U.N. did not expect so many visitors and are a bit slow to react. Denmark now provides an extra exhibition center for NGOs, with free internet, transmissions from the main center etc, and as far as I understand, this extra center is not under U.N. jurisdiction.
* Climate negotiations: They're all negotiating as hard as they can, with all the tools they have. This includes shooting the messengers, targeting the form instead of the substance etc. It is impossible to get an objective view of the current state. But everybody is supporting the Danish chairmanship organization, making sure that they do not need to defocus.
* Population: Everybody seems to be focused at making this work, and even though we would never tolerate that much police in the streets normally, and definitely not the amount of security that has been put in place, nobody complains these days and the police is very popular. Local politics is almost frozen and the opposition is quiet in order to support the government. Everybody hopes for some kind of success.
* Robert Mugabe says that his stay in Denmark was pleasant. So I guess that means that everything is ok? ;-) He would not be allowed into the country under normal circumstances, but during U.N. meetings he is protected by U.N. rules. |
