Update on Copenhagen Demo Plans

(An email from Jørn Andersen) With this news mail we wish to inform you of preparations as we see them from Copenhagen.

[Climate and Capitalism Update: See also More on Copenhagen: Climate Justice Action]

12dec09 in Copenhagen:
Planet first – People first

Preparations and mobilisation for the Global Day of Climate Action on 12. December are starting to gain momentum. There is now only 8 weeks left until – hopefully – we get a massive manifestation of the need for urgent and just climate action.

The demonstration in Copenhagen will start at 13:00 from Parliament Square (Christiansborg Slotsplads). From there it will march close to the Bella Center, the venue of the UN Climate Talks. The march is about 6 kilometers and will probably take about 2½-3 hours to walk.

There will be a few speakers at the starting point. At the Bella Center there will probably be a broader range of speakers + music etc. The details of this is however yet to be worked out.

The main slogan of the demonstration is: Planet First – People First. Additional slogans are being discussed – but we also encourage everybody to bring your own slogans, banners etc. This will help create a diverse and colourful manifestation.

A platform paper outlining the principles and organisation of the demo has been confirmed by an assembly meeting on 23. Sept. – find it at: http://12dec09.dk/l/pp/ (RTF format, English).

Blocks in the demo

Many organisations and networks want to create their own blocks of supporters and friends in the demonstration. Please inform us if you plan to do so (especially if you plan to have large blocks), so we can organise the blocks in advance. Please inform us before 25. November if possible.

We want people from the global South to be very prominent in the demonstration. So please inform us if you plan to bring people from the global South, even if the numbers aren’t that big.

Accommodation

A lot of you have asked about accommodation for your stay in Copenhagen, and until now we have only been able to give you quite vague answers. This has changed.

This webpage: http://peoplesclimateaction.dk/uk/37465/Accommodation – should be the answer to your prayers.

There are basically two possibilities:

1. Private and free accommodation organised by New Life Copenhagen (mainly for individuals)
2. Cheap (or not so cheap) accommodation organised by Peoples Climate Action (for groups and individuals)

Peoples Climate Action (PCA) is a semi-official body set up by larger NGOs and funded by the Danish Foreign Ministry to facilitate civil society activities during COP15.

We urge you to register groups for accommodation as soon as possible – that is as soon you have a general idea about how many you will bring to Copenhagen. We believe that the PCA may grossly underestimate how many people will come to Copenhagen during the weekend around the demonstration. So help them get the real picture.

Warning: It may be colder in Copenhagen in December than you expect, so please bring warm clothes. Global warming does not necessarily mean that every day is warmer everywhere.

Support for the demonstration

So far more than 115 organisations and networks support the demonstration – almost 50 from Denmark, and the rest from 20 other countries – check out the list of supporters at: http://12dec09.dk/l/ae/.

However, we are very concerned that the demonstration in Copenhagen should be a truly international event – even if the majority of people will come from Denmark and neighbouring countries.

One way of achieving this is to get as many organisations and networks from as many countries to formally support (endorse) the demonstration. If your organisations are not yet supporting, please urge them to send us messages of support to: info@12dec09.dk.

We ask you to send us messages of support even if you are not planning to go to Copenhagen, but prefer to focus on organising events in your own country.

We ask for support from all kinds of civil society organisations, like green and climate organisations and networks, trade and student unions, peace, solidarity, human relief, political, religious organisations and movements etc.

What else happens in Copenhagen?

There will be lots of activities going on in Copenhagen before, during and after the two weeks of Climate Summit – from religious services over debates to civil disobedience and much more.

The demo initiative is independent of any other events, but we encourage you to link up with other people in your network to make an impact before, during and after the Summit.

The PCA calendar has a broad range of activities announced at: http://www.peoplesclimateaction.dk/uk/36933/Activities

Activities of Klimaforum09 – Peoples Climate Summit will be announced at: http://www.klimaforum09.dk/

Some civil disobedience etc. not in the PCA calendar will probably be announced at: http://klimakollektivet.dk/

You may also be able to find more at individual web pages of organisations supporting the demo: http://12dec09.dk/l/ae/

… and internationally?

Check out the webpage of the Global Climate Campaign: http://globalclimatecampaign.org/.

On our own links page you will find links to mobilisations in some neighbouring countries.

More info will follow

From now we plan to send out information about preparation and mobilisation as soon as there are important news which can help your mobilisation, probably every 8-10 days.

Help us spread the information by getting people to join our mailing list (http://12dec09.dk/l/me/) and/or forward these info mails to people in your network or publish on your web sites.

Please add a link to our website – a new re-designed version will become public within a few days, but the address remains: http://12dec09.dk/.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please mail to: info@12dec09.dk.

Hope to see many of you in Copenhagen – and to get as many manifestations in as many countries as possible – before, during and after the Summit.

Best wishes,

Jørn Andersen