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Hello, hello, UpTakers! The team is settled in Copenhagen, and I wanted to pass along the many ways you can follow our coverage of the UN Climate Change Conference, our first international news coverage. The conference lasts until December 18th, and we'll be there, cameras in hand, for the entire thing.
Livestreams
From about 2 AM CST - 12:30 PM CST, we're live-streaming the sessions inside the Bella Center on our front page. We'll alert you on our Twitter account when a session is live, or you can check the badges below our video on the front page.
Many sessions run simultaneously, so you can switch channels on our video player by clicking Copenhagen 1, 2, 3 or 4 on the right-hand side of the player. After the sessions are over for the day, we'll replay the entire day on the front page.
Fancy, produced video
We're also publishing edited pieces throughout the day. Examples: we talk with Naomi Klein of The Nation about the concept of hope, and what it means for this conference. Watch a musical demonstration outside of The Bella Center before Day One. And should Africa be represented by Ethiopian dictator Meles Zenawi at the conference?
Read our tweets
Our team is twittering furiously throughout the day. Check our live blog for all the tweets in one place, or add them individually: Chuck, Jason, Mike, Jacob, Rick. (Oh, say hi to Jacob Wheeler and Rick Fuentes, journalists from Chicago and the Twin Cities respectively, who are helping us out in Copenhagen.)
A gaggle of videos and links (kind of like a pride of lions)
We're also collecting video on the conference from all over the web here, and you can read daily link round-ups from our interns, Alicia and Kelly, here. (Say hi to Alicia and Kelly, everyone.)
Embed us! Steal our RSS!
If you'd like to embed our livestream player, go to our front page and click on the Embed button at the bottom of the video player. That'll bring up the code. Click on the channels on the right to bring up that particular channel's embed code.
If you'd like an RSS feed of our videos, take our Blip RSS here.
We left our heart in MinnesotaFancy, produced video
We're also publishing edited pieces throughout the day. Examples: we talk with Naomi Klein of The Nation about the concept of hope, and what it means for this conference. Watch a musical demonstration outside of The Bella Center before Day One. And should Africa be represented by Ethiopian dictator Meles Zenawi at the conference?
Read our tweets
Our team is twittering furiously throughout the day. Check our live blog for all the tweets in one place, or add them individually: Chuck, Jason, Mike, Jacob, Rick. (Oh, say hi to Jacob Wheeler and Rick Fuentes, journalists from Chicago and the Twin Cities respectively, who are helping us out in Copenhagen.)
A gaggle of videos and links (kind of like a pride of lions)
We're also collecting video on the conference from all over the web here, and you can read daily link round-ups from our interns, Alicia and Kelly, here. (Say hi to Alicia and Kelly, everyone.)
Embed us! Steal our RSS!
If you'd like to embed our livestream player, go to our front page and click on the Embed button at the bottom of the video player. That'll bring up the code. Click on the channels on the right to bring up that particular channel's embed code.
If you'd like an RSS feed of our videos, take our Blip RSS here.
We don't miss the snow, but we're not ignoring you, Minnesota. Check our Minnesota Twitter account for our local live-streaming schedule, and for local videos. Our citizen journalist supreme, Craig Stellmacher, shot this great video of Sarah Palin and her fans at the Mall America.
As always, if you have questions, or want to say hi to the team, you can write us at info@theuptake.org.
Tak! (And thanks for watching.)
Mike, Jason, Chuck and several of our partners will be at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference starting December 7 and ending Dec 18. (OK, there'll be boots on the ground several days before that, but the 7th is when the conference begins.)
COP15, as the conference is nicknamed, is a chance for world leaders to negotiate and discuss what to do with the "global threat of climate change." (Quoth I from the UNFCC site.)
We'll be working with Mother Jones, The Nation, One World and many others to bring live and produced footage from the conference, the protests, the city and surrounding culture. Time difference is 7 hours, and though we'll have some live action in the wee hours of US time, much of what you'll see will be a bit delayed.
We're excited for our first international coverage opportunity, and hope you'll check in our front page and our Twitter account for breaking news and videos. The Twitter hashtag for the event is #cop15.
Feel free to drop us a line over the next few weeks as you watch the team tromp through Denmark. We're at info@theuptake.org, as usual.
See you over the sea!
via Jennifer W.
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Our Channels and pages
COP15: Day 1
Two of our star interns, Alicia Neubauer and Kelly Gulbrandson, will skim the web and bring you written highlights each day from the Copenhagen Climate Conference.
By Alicia Neubauer, UpTake intern.
Today was the first day of the conference on climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark, affectionately named COP15 (named for the fifteenth “Conference of the Parties”). If you haven’t heard of it, you may want to get out from under your rock, because it will be going on for two more weeks.
Delegates from a total of 192 countries have shown up to Copenhagen to take action against global warming and climate change. The talks will last until Dec. 18, when President Obama will make an appearance along with other world leaders.
“The clock has ticked down to zero,” said Yvo de Boer, the United Nations’ climate chief. “After two years of negotiation, the time has come to deliver.”
Inside Copenhagen’s Bella Center, new goals for lessening emissions were announced by several countries, including China, Brazil, India, the United States, and South Africa.
The conference’s kickoff had a cautiously optimistic feel. Union of Concerned Scientists climate policy director Alden Meyer said he thought the conference has gotten more reluctant countries to join in on the effort to reduce emissions.
“It has focused attention and gotten all the major players to put their initial offers on the table,” Meyer said. “I think that’s good news.”
EPA Announces Greenhouse Gases a Danger
In COP15-related-but-not-actually-in-Denmark news, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced on behalf of the Obama administration today that greenhouse gases and other pollution are a danger to the general public’s health and welfare and should be regulated, according to The Washington Post The announcement finally caps off the “endangerment findings” by the government, first released in April.
Jackson spoke at EPA headquarters, saying that greenhouse gases are "disrupting the natural balance in our atmosphere and changing our climate . . . the overwhelming amount of scientific evidence shows the threat is real."
Jackson didn’t reveal when the EPA will release a detailed plan to cut greenhouse gases. She also said that the EPA was not trying to push Congress into creating legislation with the findings.
"There are no more excuses for delay," Jackson added. "This administration will not ignore science and the law any longer." Jackson will also be speaking at the climate conference in Copenhagen on Wednesday.
Demonstrations
Upwards of 50,000 protesters took to the streets in London today to literally take a stand against climate change. The group, called The Wave, was organized by Christian Aid and Stop Climate Loss Coalition, reports the Huffington Post.
The Wave said they hoped to send a message to lawmakers that the COP15 talks must bring about a deal to help stop global warming. “The UK government must fight for a comprehensive, fair and binding deal at Copenhagen,” said Chris Jones of Oxfam Cymru.
The Wave didn’t just take over London; the group also held protests in Glasgow, Belfast and Dublin, according to BBC News.
COP15, Day 2
By Kelly Gulbrandson, UpTake intern.
- A group of World Wildlife Federation members set up an arctic tent with a life-sized polar bear carved out of ice for people to tell their climate change stories. Today, the tent was visited by lots of young people. Very cool how the Arctic has become a magnet for young people intent on making a difference in the world.
-Interesting video by Australian students giving their perspective on Cop15 and climate change
Amanda Mckenzie and Anna Rose, members of Australian Youth Climate Coalition, put together a video of what students from across the planet are doing to get their voices heard during the Climate Conference.
-Top UN scientist Rajendra Pachauri defends fellow British scientists accused in hacking into e-mails from a leading British climate research center which is being referred to as Climategate. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon concurs with Pachauri: “Nothing that has come out in the public as a result of the recent email hackings has cast doubt on the basic scientific message on climate change and that message is quite clear – that climate is changing much, much faster than we realized and we human beings are the primary cause."
-President Obama announces that greenhouse gases would now be considered a health hazard.
This announcement would give the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to regulate industrial emissions.
-Protestors set up banners to warn delegates of the serious issues being discussed at the conference.
While delegates were not required to pass by either of the signs to enter the conference today, some chose to do so in order to see what the group, the World Wildlife Federation, had to say.
"Welcome to two weeks where we are to perform what is most difficult in politics,” Denmark’s prime minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, said.
-Charts of data were displayed today showing the current decade is on track to be the hottest on record for planet Earth. This prompted climate activists and others, including delegates from impoverished countries, to say that the more impoverished states should bear a lesser burden than wealthier industrialized countries in the effort to slow global warming. Richer countries such as United States and Canada disagree.
- A group of World Wildlife Federation members set up an arctic tent with a life-sized polar bear carved out of ice for people to tell their climate change stories. Today, the tent was visited by lots of young people. Very cool how the Arctic has become a magnet for young people intent on making a difference in the world.
-Interesting video by Australian students giving their perspective on Cop15 and climate change
Amanda Mckenzie and Anna Rose, members of Australian Youth Climate Coalition, put together a video of what students from across the planet are doing to get their voices heard during the Climate Conference.
-Top UN scientist Rajendra Pachauri defends fellow British scientists accused in hacking into e-mails from a leading British climate research center which is being referred to as Climategate. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon concurs with Pachauri: “Nothing that has come out in the public as a result of the recent email hackings has cast doubt on the basic scientific message on climate change and that message is quite clear – that climate is changing much, much faster than we realized and we human beings are the primary cause."
-President Obama announces that greenhouse gases would now be considered a health hazard.
This announcement would give the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to regulate industrial emissions.
-Protestors set up banners to warn delegates of the serious issues being discussed at the conference.
While delegates were not required to pass by either of the signs to enter the conference today, some chose to do so in order to see what the group, the World Wildlife Federation, had to say.
"Welcome to two weeks where we are to perform what is most difficult in politics,” Denmark’s prime minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, said.
-Charts of data were displayed today showing the current decade is on track to be the hottest on record for planet Earth. This prompted climate activists and others, including delegates from impoverished countries, to say that the more impoverished states should bear a lesser burden than wealthier industrialized countries in the effort to slow global warming. Richer countries such as United States and Canada disagree.
COP15, Day 3
By Alicia Neubauer, UpTake intern.
Welcome to Day 3 of the COP15 news roundup! Here are more news highlights from Copenhagen:
A report released by the Department of Climate Change has predicted that with a 1.1 –meter rise in sea level around Australia in the next 10 years, over 250,000 Australians will be forced to sell their homes and relocate. Since 80 percent of Australians live near the coast, the news is especially bad for those coastal dwellers who would have to accept deals from the government for their homes and land, relocating them to safer land within 10 years. Crikey. (via MinnPost)
The small island nation of Tuvalu was denied its request to the U.N. to have even more aggressive regulations of greenhouse gases than are currently being considered. Saudi Arabia, China, and India rejected Tuvalu’s proposal, while the U.S. remained silent. The Pacific island-state is in danger, as rising sea levels could mean their land would literally be swallowed up by water, forcing inhabitants elsewhere. (via NPR)
China’s chief climate negotiator Yu Qingtai said the U.S. should do some “deep soul-searching,” after the two biggest carbon-producing countries got in a bit of a heated discussion Wednesday. The U.S. asked China to “stand behind” their promise to slow their growing greenhouse gas emissions, which China replied to with criticism of the U.S. for not keeping its promises to help developing countries. Then the U.S. dis-invited China to its birthday party. (via MSNBC)
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson was greeted in Copenhagen with a standing ovation Wednesday, as the Obama administration begins making its moves at COP15. Jackson and other fellow Cabinet secretaries will continue to represent the U.S. in Copenhagen, following Monday’s announcement that the U.S. formally declared greenhouse gases as a public health threat. (via the Los Angeles Times)
A collection of fashion designers held eco-conscious fashion shows across from COP15 at Copenhagen’s Opera House on Wednesday. Designers created frocks from various Earth-friendly materials such as Inego, created from corn material; Milkfiber, made from milled milk; and the icky-sounding Crabion, which is composed of none other than crab-industry byproducts. I’ll stick to cotton for now, thanks. (via the StarTribune)
More COP15 news and video is coming to you for the next two weeks via The UpTake – keep checking in with us!
By Kelly Gulbrandson, UpTake intern.
Hello everyone! The fourth day of the Copenhagen Climate Conference was an exciting one.
First, a few nations urged the passage of a multibillion-dollar fund to help out poorer countries deal with climate change. The push for this fund, which would include strong European nations as well as the U.S., was discussed today as a way to show how important Washington sees this problem. It will be one of the things President Obama will discuss during his visit.
From an AP article on the subject: "While some nations are taking this as a sign that the more industrialized nations are noticing the need for help to the developing nations, some are pressing the U.S., Europeans, Japanese and others for more upfront money and for assurances about long-term financing. This way it the fund wouldn't be considered a short-lived promise."
In other news, there is more discussion over the proposed Danish text about climate control that has caused controversy among delegates of different countries.
From Swamp Politics: "The proposal in question includes commitments for greenhouse gas reductions by developing countries and a reduced role for the United Nations in climate policy, well before the summit began."
"It was unclear if everyone in the room agreed to every provision," according to the article in the Los Angeles Times. The text itself is creating a growing rift between developed and developing countries since it puts more of a burden of the less developed countries to control climate changes.
Also, it looks as though the Kyoto Protocol will survive the conference despite delegations trying to beat down the agreement.
The United Nations Climate Chief, Yvo de Boer, will continue depsite its unpopularity among the rich nations. Ther 12 year-old agreement that was signed in China is one of the major climate control policies created back in its time.
According to the United Nations website: "The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It is set to expire in 2012, prompting debate from different delegations to discuss continuing it or dumping it."
As far as protests for Day 4, there weren't many noticable protests but local police and businesses are preparing for major protestes planned for Friday and Saturday.
According to The UpTake (that's us!), the biggest action will be a six-kilometer march under the slogan “People First — Planet First." More than 115 organizations have endorsed the protests, which will demand the richest countries to “take the urgent and resolute action needed to prevent the catastrophic destabilization of the global climate."
It will take place on December 12, midway through the Copenhagen conference. Organizers have called for the date to be a global day of protest.
So stay tuned to see what happens tomorrow and the weekend.
Hello everyone! The fourth day of the Copenhagen Climate Conference was an exciting one.
First, a few nations urged the passage of a multibillion-dollar fund to help out poorer countries deal with climate change. The push for this fund, which would include strong European nations as well as the U.S., was discussed today as a way to show how important Washington sees this problem. It will be one of the things President Obama will discuss during his visit.
From an AP article on the subject: "While some nations are taking this as a sign that the more industrialized nations are noticing the need for help to the developing nations, some are pressing the U.S., Europeans, Japanese and others for more upfront money and for assurances about long-term financing. This way it the fund wouldn't be considered a short-lived promise."
In other news, there is more discussion over the proposed Danish text about climate control that has caused controversy among delegates of different countries.
From Swamp Politics: "The proposal in question includes commitments for greenhouse gas reductions by developing countries and a reduced role for the United Nations in climate policy, well before the summit began."
"It was unclear if everyone in the room agreed to every provision," according to the article in the Los Angeles Times. The text itself is creating a growing rift between developed and developing countries since it puts more of a burden of the less developed countries to control climate changes.
Also, it looks as though the Kyoto Protocol will survive the conference despite delegations trying to beat down the agreement.
The United Nations Climate Chief, Yvo de Boer, will continue depsite its unpopularity among the rich nations. Ther 12 year-old agreement that was signed in China is one of the major climate control policies created back in its time.
According to the United Nations website: "The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It is set to expire in 2012, prompting debate from different delegations to discuss continuing it or dumping it."
As far as protests for Day 4, there weren't many noticable protests but local police and businesses are preparing for major protestes planned for Friday and Saturday.
According to The UpTake (that's us!), the biggest action will be a six-kilometer march under the slogan “People First — Planet First." More than 115 organizations have endorsed the protests, which will demand the richest countries to “take the urgent and resolute action needed to prevent the catastrophic destabilization of the global climate."
It will take place on December 12, midway through the Copenhagen conference. Organizers have called for the date to be a global day of protest.
So stay tuned to see what happens tomorrow and the weekend.
COP15, Day 5
By Alicia Neubauer, UpTake intern.
Here’s a very brief summary of the Friday happenings at COP15 and the first week of the two week-log talks:
As the first week of COP15 came to a close today, rifts have developed in between developed and undeveloped countries. Some agreements have been neared, including Britain and France who back the setup of a $10 billion annual fund to battle climate change. Both countries agreed to commit $2 billion yearly as set by the EU. Also, over 100 nations joined Tuvalu in an agreement to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, rather than 2 degrees. (via Energy Efficiency News)
Friday saw the arrest of 68 anti-capitalist protesters in Copenhagen, according to Danish police. Danish police used a new pre-emptive arrest power to deal with the possivbility of rowdy protesters during the climate talks. The police estimated about 250 protesters were present during Friday’s protest, although some witnesses claim up to 1,000 were there. (via The Independent)
U.S. Special Convoy Envoy for Climate Change, Todd Stern, was called “extremely irresponsible” by China’s Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei on Friday for saying that the U.S. will not be financially helping fellow top polluter China. Minister Yafei said he was “shocked” by Sterns comments that China shouldn’t count on any financial help earlier this week. (via Star Tribune)
A drafted proposal by the UN aims to reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2050. The draft is the first to come out since the Copenhagen talks began. Financial details in the long term and a plan of how much wealthy countries will pay poorer ones have been left out to be determined later. (via The Economic Times)
Stay tuned for more news and video right here at The UpTake!
By Kelly Gulbrandson, UpTake intern.
First, coming off a weekend of protests, negotiations were stalled for a few hours today as a few countries in attendance staged a protest. The poorer countries believed the richer countries were not doing enough to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
From the New York Times article:
"The move was partly a tactical one as climate talks entered a second, more serious week, and by the afternoon, representatives from developing countries said they were ready to return to the table. Still, the threat of non participation underscored the tenuous dynamic between richer and poorer nations."
Climate change activist Al Gore also made an appearance at the conference today.
Although he had canceled a previously scheduled talk, he listened to the negotiations. According to the article on Politico.com, he was treated like a rockstar by the participants.
On the topic on protests, the Autralia delegation had an interesting day
.
According to this blog, the country agreed to fiscally help out with a program promoted by the U.S.
From energymatters.com:
"The new initiatives, part of Climate REDI (Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative) will speed up deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technology in developing nations."
Also in another event from the day from the same blog: "Australia has also been accused of "cooking the carbon books" after it was revealed while counting carbon sequestered by through modified farming and forestry strategies, it did not include high emissions aspects like bush fires (increasing due to climate change) and clear fell logging." This has made the Australian delegation not popular among the other countries in the conference.
That is all for today climate conference watchers!
First, coming off a weekend of protests, negotiations were stalled for a few hours today as a few countries in attendance staged a protest. The poorer countries believed the richer countries were not doing enough to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
From the New York Times article:
"The move was partly a tactical one as climate talks entered a second, more serious week, and by the afternoon, representatives from developing countries said they were ready to return to the table. Still, the threat of non participation underscored the tenuous dynamic between richer and poorer nations."
Climate change activist Al Gore also made an appearance at the conference today.
Although he had canceled a previously scheduled talk, he listened to the negotiations. According to the article on Politico.com, he was treated like a rockstar by the participants.
On the topic on protests, the Autralia delegation had an interesting day
.
According to this blog, the country agreed to fiscally help out with a program promoted by the U.S.
From energymatters.com:
"The new initiatives, part of Climate REDI (Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative) will speed up deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technology in developing nations."
Also in another event from the day from the same blog: "Australia has also been accused of "cooking the carbon books" after it was revealed while counting carbon sequestered by through modified farming and forestry strategies, it did not include high emissions aspects like bush fires (increasing due to climate change) and clear fell logging." This has made the Australian delegation not popular among the other countries in the conference.
That is all for today climate conference watchers!
COP15, Day 9
By Alicia Neubauer, UpTake intern.
Here are a few highlights from Tuesday’s talks:
Although a lot of the focus has been on green house gases, they aren’t the only serious side effect of carbon dioxide being discussed at COP15. According to a report on Monday, the Copenhagen talks are abuzz with the news that ocean acidity has risen 30 percent in the last 250 years. The scary part is that the report also says that at the current rate of carbon dioxide emissions, the levels of acid could increase by 150 percent by 2050. Say goodbye to your shrimp cocktail. (via MinnPost)
The U.N. reports that 40,500 tons of carbon dioxide will be created during the 12-day conference in Copenhagen, thanks to traveling and waste produced from lighting and lodging. In fact, 90 percent of that will come from air travel alone. Sweden had announced that they will offset the carbon they produced to attend COP15, joined by just a few other countries. (via the Star Tribune)
Mayors and leaders from 80 cities around the globe including New York, London, Tokyo, and Toronto met in Copenhagen to hold their own five-day-long conference. The goal of the talks is to figure out how they can reduce carbon emission in their cities while reducing the costs to do so. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the federal stimulus money sent to U.S. states should have instead been sent to U.S. cities, where "most of the environmental damage is done and most of the chances for improvement are." (via the Star Tribune)
U.N. official Yvo de Boer said Tuesday that the prevalence of the words “to be eleaborated” reflected the stalemate-like feel of the COP15 talks in its final days regarding some key issues. De Boer commented it reflected the difficulty of trying to find common ground between the 193 countries present, who vary so much culturally and economically. “There are 400 million people in India who lack access to electricity,” he said. “How do you switch off the light bulb that you don’t have?” (via the New York Times)
There’s plenty more Copenhagen news where that came from here on The UpTake during this final week of the talks. Check out the front page for more video coverage.
By Kelly Gulbrandson, UpTake intern.
A lot of action this morning was focused the protests and the clash with police.
After a previous meeting with police over this weekend's protests, protestors did not have as mich luck this time. As the protestors made it to the Bella Center, the meeting place for the conference, many protestors were arrested and some beaten.
From the CNN article:
"Around 3,000 activists convened at two railway stations in the Danish capital early on Wednesday and began their march towards the Bella Center." "There have been some clashes and scuffles, and the police have fired some tear gas, but the protests have been reasonably low-level." CNN reporter Phil Black said.
In other news, some leaders at the conference are doubting if anything will be accomplished during this conference.
From Telegraph.com: "While British officials admitted that the talks remain 'very difficult', Ed Miliband, the climate change secretary, signalled Britain is prepared to back a move to hold another international climate summit in Mexico City next summer, several months ahead of schedule. 'We have to find ways of unblocking this procedural wrangling because if we exhaust ourselves and run the clock down we will not get an agreement,' he said, adding that he was frustrated at 'talking about talks rather than talking.'"
Also, on the topic of making real progress while at the conference, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry spoke today about how critical it is to make progress at the conference in order to make progress in the U.S.
According to the New York Times: "Success in Copenhagen is really critical to success in the U.S. Senate and in Congress," Kerry told reporters during a lightning stop in the Danish capital to monitor the U.N. talks. Kerry was one of the prominent U.S. figures to speak during the conference today. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also spoke at the conference on the importance of conserving energy. Also from the NY Times article: "Kerry said he thinks it would be "realistic and necessary" to hold the next U.N. meeting in June or July 2010 to wrap up the leftover work from Copenhagen on a full-fledged international treaty."
One other interesting aspect from today - The Danish prime minister took control of the UN climate talks in Copenhagen and replaced former conference presdient Connie Hedegaard as efforts were ramped up to secure a new deal on global warming. According to the article from the Independant, the move was earlier than planned.
From the Independant: "A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: "This is a planned procedural handover to the Danish Prime Minister at the start of the high level segment. "Prime minister Rasmussen has been closely engaged in this process talking to fellow leaders over the past few months, and he will now be taking the negotiations through to the end game.
Ms Hedegaard said: 'With so many heads of state and governments arriving to give their statements it is appropriate that the Danish prime minister presides. Negotiations and consultations will be conducted at all levels.'"
That is it for now. Make sure to continue to check back for further updates.
A lot of action this morning was focused the protests and the clash with police.
After a previous meeting with police over this weekend's protests, protestors did not have as mich luck this time. As the protestors made it to the Bella Center, the meeting place for the conference, many protestors were arrested and some beaten.
From the CNN article:
"Around 3,000 activists convened at two railway stations in the Danish capital early on Wednesday and began their march towards the Bella Center." "There have been some clashes and scuffles, and the police have fired some tear gas, but the protests have been reasonably low-level." CNN reporter Phil Black said.
In other news, some leaders at the conference are doubting if anything will be accomplished during this conference.
From Telegraph.com: "While British officials admitted that the talks remain 'very difficult', Ed Miliband, the climate change secretary, signalled Britain is prepared to back a move to hold another international climate summit in Mexico City next summer, several months ahead of schedule. 'We have to find ways of unblocking this procedural wrangling because if we exhaust ourselves and run the clock down we will not get an agreement,' he said, adding that he was frustrated at 'talking about talks rather than talking.'"
Also, on the topic of making real progress while at the conference, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry spoke today about how critical it is to make progress at the conference in order to make progress in the U.S.
According to the New York Times: "Success in Copenhagen is really critical to success in the U.S. Senate and in Congress," Kerry told reporters during a lightning stop in the Danish capital to monitor the U.N. talks. Kerry was one of the prominent U.S. figures to speak during the conference today. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also spoke at the conference on the importance of conserving energy. Also from the NY Times article: "Kerry said he thinks it would be "realistic and necessary" to hold the next U.N. meeting in June or July 2010 to wrap up the leftover work from Copenhagen on a full-fledged international treaty."
One other interesting aspect from today - The Danish prime minister took control of the UN climate talks in Copenhagen and replaced former conference presdient Connie Hedegaard as efforts were ramped up to secure a new deal on global warming. According to the article from the Independant, the move was earlier than planned.
From the Independant: "A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: "This is a planned procedural handover to the Danish Prime Minister at the start of the high level segment. "Prime minister Rasmussen has been closely engaged in this process talking to fellow leaders over the past few months, and he will now be taking the negotiations through to the end game.
Ms Hedegaard said: 'With so many heads of state and governments arriving to give their statements it is appropriate that the Danish prime minister presides. Negotiations and consultations will be conducted at all levels.'"
That is it for now. Make sure to continue to check back for further updates.
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