Copenhagen Summit – Weekend Events Summary

It was a busy summit weekend in Copenhagen. On Saturday environmentalists and activists rallied worldwide in favor of a global climate agreement. In Copenhagen, host city of the ongoing UN negotiations, a six-kilometer march from the parliament building to the conference venue gathered an estimated 50,000 people.

On Sunday Danish police stopped an unauthorized demonstration on a second day of street protests over climate change, as environment ministers met for informal talks to advance negotiations on a new pact.

More than 200 activists detained Sunday - Hundreds of demonstrators were outnumbered by police officers in riot gear who surrounded them. Critics blasted the Danish law that allows police to make preventative arrests, if they believe a demonstration will turn violent, and hold suspected troublemakers for up to 12 hours without a court arraignment.

968 detained in Copenhagen climate march Saturday - On Saturday, tens of thousands of people joined an overwhelmingly peaceful march in winter cold Copenhagen to demonstrate for action on climate change. 968 were detained by the police. As of Sunday morning, only a handful was still detained.
Climate negotiations change gears – With only a short “working week” to go before more than 110 heads of state and government gather Friday at the climate summit in Copenhagen, the hour of reckoning approaches with giant strides.

African Union threatens to scuttle a deal - African Union climate negotiator Meles Zenawi has sought Chinese and Indian backing if the African demands are not being taken seriously.

Bangladesh: Let the World Bank manage fund for populations at risk – The Bangladesh delegation demands allocation from any climate change adaptation fund in proportion to the percentage of its population exposed to climate change.

Scientists: Climate talks aim too low for target – The cuts in greenhouse gases offered at the 192-nation climate conference are “clearly not enough” to assure the world it will head off dangerous global warming, a key UN-affiliated scientist says.

Global activists: Seal the deal - Environmentalists from all over the world rallied in Copenhagen on Saturday to demonstrate in favor of a global climate agreement. Other cities around the globe saw demonstrations too.

COP President: Progress has been made - Negotiators have advanced on texts on how to supply new green technologies – like wind and solar power – to developing nations during the first week of Copenhagen climate talks. Progress has also been made in promoting use of forests to soak up carbon dioxide. But there are still deep splits on issues such as raising funds for developing countries and sharing out the burden of greenhouse gas emissions curbs.

Tough bargaining still ahead at UN climate talks - After one week of UN-led climate negotiations in Copenhagen, some money is finally on the table and a draft agreement has been circulated. Now the really hard bargaining begins.

India: No to peaking year - India is willing to curb its growth in carbon emissions, but stands firm on its rejection of a “peaking” year. Nor will India accept international scrutiny of voluntary domestic measures to tackle climate change, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said on Saturday.

Mexico offers voluntary emission cuts – Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Friday promised that his country will start reducing its greenhouse gases two years from now at its own expense.

G-77: EU funding “insignificant” – Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping of Sudan – negotiator for the G-77 – is not impressed by the EU’s pledge to fund 7.2 billion euro worth of climate aid over the next three years.

Africa considering tough demands - According to a draft text, 50 African countries are considering demanding five percent of rich nations’ GDPs for developing countries, plus deep emission cuts.

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