CJA corporate media round-up: reclaim power

Reclaim Power action, Wednesday 16th

Danes claim new climate deal draft, India Today, 16th December 2009
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/75231/India/Copenhagen:+Protests+rage+as+deadlock+persists+.html
The protesters were out in full force, gathering outside the venue in thousands. They were protesting against the lack of progress in reaching a new climate deal.

VIOLENTHAGEN: the end of civilisation, Green on the COP [blog], Wednesday 16th December 2009
http://www.greenon2009.eu/?p=617
Nice piece: These people were convinced that Climate Change is a problem that can only be solved by changing our lifestyle, our economical, political and social system . They thought that our leaders, politicians and state representatives were not doing enough and that normal people, especially those ones already affected by climate change could offer real solutions to save the planet.
One day all those people decided to make a peaceful, democratic demonstration by gathering people from the Global South and the Global North, all together, with the aim to bring their concerns and proposals inside the Bella Centre. They believed in the idea that only by turning the COP into a People’s Assembly it would have been possible to move into a new sustainable era.

Police beat back massed climate protestors, New York Times, Wednesday 16th December
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/science/earth/17climate.html
According to one organizer, Anne Petermann, the overarching message of Wednesday’s action is that the United Nations process for curbing climate change is a failure, and that there are “thousands of other solutions to climate change that aren’t being considered,” she said. Another member of the protest group, Richard Bernard, said he expected arrests and possible clashes with police. “Danish police have been violating human rights all week,” he said.

Africans slam Zenawi-Sarkozy appeal, Radio France Internationale, Wednesday 16th December
http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/120/article_6204.asp
Danish police on Wednesday fired tear gas and arrested more than 100 activists, who were among 1,500 who tried to march on the Copenhagen conference centre. The protesters accuse the politicians from 194 countries of preparing an inadequate response to global warming.

Protest in Copenhagen over excluded peoples and NGOS, Green Building Press, Wednesday 16th December
http://www.greenbuildingpress.co.uk/article.php?category_id=34&article_id=437
Read the whole article, it's great: "The lives of billions of people are literally on the line here at COP 15, but these negotiations have been focused on propping up the interests of elite countries and corporations rather than addressing the fossil fuel economy that threatens our collective survival," stated Kevin Smith, of Climate Justice Action. "It is for this reason that we are gathering for the Reclaim Power protest and Peoples Plenary that will happen tomorrow at the UN Climate COP."

At climate talks, protests and unresolved issues, Washington Post, Wednesday 16th December
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/16/AR2009121600701.html?hpid=topnews
Global climate negotiators struggled to find a path forward Wednesday morning, as protests erupted both inside and outside the Bella Center by activists pushing for a more stringent agreement.

Climate Activists stage walkout of Copenhagen conference, Wall Street Journal, Wednesday 16th December
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/12/16/climate-activists-stage-walkout-of-copenhagen-conference/

“This is a failed process,” said Kevin Smith of Climate Justice Action, one of the leaders of the walk-out. He said groups most impacted by climate change – indigenous peoples and peasant farmers – had no influence on the talks, which he said were “hijacked by western governments and corporations that just want business as usual.”

Copenhagen day of mass protest passes without major incident, The Guardian, Wednesday 16th December
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/16/copenhagen-protest
Tim Jones, policy officer for anti-poverty campaigners the World Development Movement, said: "Today thousands of people sought to create a people's assembly to get voices heard offering real solutions to the climate crisis.
Tom Goldtooth, a Bolivian with the Indigenous Environmental Network, led the chanting and drumming. "We feel they are negotiating for the sake of corporations," he said.

A Copenhagen activist speaks: I was afraid I would go back to the cages, Guardian online, Tuesday 15th December
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/15/copenhagen-activist-speaks
I came to Copenhagen to protest against the undemocratic and ineffective climate talks and to stand up for climate justice. On Saturday, I joined together with 100,000 other people to march to the Bella centre. I was in a section of the march calling for "System Change Not Climate Change", together with people from all over the world who are sick of fake corporate solutions like carbon trading, and want to see real climate solutions that deliver justice to the global south.

Copenhagen: the sound of silence, Guardian online, Wednesday 16th December
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/dec/16/copenhagen-protests-police
an ever-swelling army of critics who believe this issue is too important for a stitched-up compromise, negotiated late at night between corporate lobbyists and rich-country governments in conference hotel rooms.

Peaceful protests turn violent in Copenhagen, Alert Net/ The Media Consortium [blog], Wednesday December 16th
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/environment/144611/peaceful_protests_turn_violent_in_copenhagen/
More than 250 people were arrested, including spokespeople for Climate Justice Action (CJA), a global network of NGOs that organized a walkout at the Bella Center today. CJA’s spokesperson Dan Glall told Mantoe Phakathi at Inter Press Service that “as a condition for going back to the negotiations, we demand industrialized nations uphold the Kyoto Protocol, commit adequate funds to adaptation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly.”

Hundreds protest at climate talks, The Independent, (front page, one of the three main stories, with picture), Wednesday 16th December
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/hundreds-protest-at-climate-talks-1842287.html
Natalie Swift, a spokeswoman for Climate Justice Action said: "Today we are seeing thousands of people joining together to fight for climate justice. "We need systems change to create a world which is truly just and sustainable and solve the climate crisis."

Copenhagen police battle climate protestors, BBC News (front page, one of the two subsidary top stories with a picture), Wednesday 16th December
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8415307.stm
Activists have been angered by lack of progress on a new climate deal and also by restrictions on access to the talks.

Activists arrested in Copenhagen protests, CNN International (one of the stories listed on main page, but no picture), Wednesday 16th December
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/12/16/copenhagen.summit.protests/index.html
Hundreds of demonstrators marched to the summit venue to show their anger over what they called "false soultions and elitism of the U.N. climate talks" [caption of 4th image in protest photo gallery]
CJA say they are holding a "People's Assembly" to counter the "false solutions and elitism of the U.N. climate talks."

Protests outside climate conference, Evening Standard (front page, second story), Wednesday 16th December
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23784884-protests-outside-climate-conference.do
Hundreds of protesters were trying to disrupt the 193-nation conference, the latest action in days of demonstrations to demand "climate justice" - firm steps to combat global warming.

Copenhagen climate summit: hundreds arrested at protest, The Telegraph (front page, subsidiary story to third main story), Wednesday 16th December
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/copenhagen-climate-change-confe/6827011/Copenhagen-climate-summit-hundreds-arrested-at-protest.html
Around 1,500 demonstrators tried to march on the closely guarded complex, where 194 nations are seeking to forge a strategy to head off the dangers from rising oceans, droughts, plagues and storms threatened by soaring temperatures.

Tear gas fired at climate talks: Police make 230 arrests as protestors storm Copenhagen summit
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1236313/Tear-gas-fired-climate-talks-Police-make-230-arrests-protesters-storm-Copenhagen-summit.html
Activists said they wanted to turn the summit into a 'people's assembly' to reclaim power on climate action from leaders. Natalie Swift, a spokeswoman for Climate Justice Action said: 'Today we are seeing thousands of people joining together to fight for climate justice.'We need systems change to create a world which is truly just and sustainable and solve the climate crisis.

Clashes at climate protest, The Sun, Wednesday December 16th
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2774559/Cops-clash-at-climate-protest.html
Hundreds converged around the Bella Centre in the Danish capital in an attempt to hold a "people's assembly" to reclaim power on climate action from leaders, while campaigners and delegates staged a noisy walkout from the talks themselves to meet those outside.

Copenhagen: clashes inside and outside climate summit, The Times (subsidiary story of one of the top four stories, no picture), Wednesday 16th December
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6958882.ece
thousands of protesters made a concerted attempt to breach security at the Bella Centre, the sprawling conference venue in the outskirts of the city. Danish police have arrested hundreds of people over the past week and have been accused of being unnecessarily heavy-handed.

Climate talks reach deadlock in Copenhagen, Sky News, Wednesday 16th December
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Climate-Change-Copenhagen-Talks-Reach-Deadlock/Article/200912315501340?lid=ARTICLE_15501340_ClimateChange:CopenhagenTalksReachDeadlock&lpos=searchresults
Very very limited coverage of the protests: Activists have also accused the United Nations of ignoring the interests of those worst hit by climate change.More than 200 protesters who tried to march on the venue of the conference have been arrested after claiming they intended to break through a police cordon.

Police and protesters clash in Copenhagen, Channel 4 news, Wednesday 16th December
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/science_technology/police+and+protesters+clash+in+copenhagen+/3466237
Activists have been angered by delegates' failure to make significant progress in talks on carbon emission cuts - and frustrated by the difficulties they have had gaining access to the summit.