The world only has eyes for the COP15. Yet, down the street from the UN summit, an alternative conference is being held. In many respects, it’s a lot more thought-provoking than the official one.

The Bella Centre where the COP15 is being held can get stuffy and turgid rather quickly. Overly aware of the importance of the event, many of the delegates and media types seem intent on forgetting that the real fun is yet to begin. The parties (member countries) are still haggling over the financial and technical arrangements of the Kyoto Protocol and whatever deal may emerge from it. This leaves slim pickings for those who really want to get some insight into what’s truly at stake in Copenhagen.

Fortunately, the KlimaForum09, or People’s summit, is being held a few metro stations away from the Bella Centre. This alternative conference couldn’t be more different from the COP15. To get an idea of just how far removed this event is from the one being held a few kilometers down the road, consider this: upon arriving there, I notice a BBC TV crew interviewing a very bizarre-looking Father Christmas. His yellowish beard is pleated.

The journalist concludes the interview by saying the following to the camera: “one thing is for sure you meet some very interesting people here”. He is not the reason for my visit to KlimaForum09, however.

The event has attracted some world-renowned speakers, not least of whom is Naomi Klein, the respected author of such seminal books as No Logoand The Shock Doctrine.After the grandeur and pomp of the Bella Center, the People’s summit feels refreshingly genuine. What looks like a basketball court has been transformed into an auditorium.

The atmosphere is very convivial. From their badges, I notice that quite a few delegates attending the COP15 are present. It being an alternative conference and all, the KlimaForum09 programme is not a finely-honed machine. That’s part of what makes its charm.

After a musical interlude, the keynote speakers take to the stage. First up, is Henry Saragih, the general coordinator of Via Campesina, the international peasant movement. The affable
Indonesian draws applause when he says that, “small-scale farmers have come here to say that we will not pay for the mistakes of the industrialized countries”. One can’t help but feel that he has a point when he remarks that industrial agriculture and the globalised food system have done little to eradicate hunger in the world. In the mid-1990s, for example, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched a programme to “reduce by the year 2015 the number of people affected by hunger worldwide to 415 million”. That objective seems more unattainable than ever.

Next up is the Nigerian Nimmo Bassey, chair of Oilwatch Africa, who gets the crowd going with some nifty catchphrases, such as, “leave the oil in the soil! Leave the coal in the hole! Leave the tar sands in the land!. He also meditates on the true cost of oil. “People think that crude oil is an easy and cheap energy solution. But when one takes into account the pollution, murders and human rights abuses, how much does one oil really cost?”.

“The biggest ever case of disaster capitalism”

As soon as the star of the evening,Naomi Klein, comes onto the stage, the auditorium sits in rapt admiration. She certainly doesn’t mince her words. “The COP15 is the biggest ever case of disaster capitalism.” The Canadian writer and columnist remarks that despite the fact that everyone agrees that the UN summit is a sort of last chance saloon, “what is being proposed is not going to solve the climate crisis”. She singles out the US, in particular, for its “paltry emission cuts” (17% below 2005 levels by 2020).

Naomi Klein goes on to excoriate industrialized countries for the climate debt they owe the developing world. “75% of historic greenhouse gas emissions come from 20% of the world population. Yet 75% of the effects of climate change are being felt in developing countries.” She is adamant that carbon trading and other market-based solutions are not the answer. “We saw what happens to food prices when people start betting on commodities.

Now they want to do the same thing with carbon. They want to hand over the most pressing and terrifying crisis that we’ve ever faced to the very same people who caused the economic crisis.”

Instead, she proposes a three-pronged solution. Firstly, the developed world must commit to deep emissions cuts in order to free up “atmospheric space” for the poor countries that still need cheap fuel to develop. Secondly, rich countries must help their southern neighbours financially so that they can adapt to climate change (building flood walls, adapting to droughts, etc.). According to the World Bank, climate change costs developing countries US$100 billion a year.

Lastly, there has to be extensive transfers of green technologies to the developing world. For that to happen though, the concept of intellectual property will have to be revised.

According to the author of No Logo, these measures allow for a win/win situation by forcing countries to “get off the carbon path and to tackle the deep inequalities” that define the current system. She also challenges the audience to engage in civil disobedience. “We’re here because of too many acts of obedience. Rage has a place here. We have a right to be angry, a responsibility to be angry. We must illustrate the stakes of the event by our willingness to take risks. Our actions should embody the future we want.”

Naomi Klein’s speech embodied the widespread feeling here that the past two months have seen a dramatic watering down of the commitments of parties and, in particular, of developed countries. Next week, more than 100 heads of State and of government will meet in the Danish capital. Everything seems to indicate that their arrival will be marked by protests against the halfhearted nature of negotiations. Civil disobedience will soon make its presence felt in Copenhagen.

Nicholas RAINER
(from Copenhagen)