10 December 2009

News from the inside

From big business to activists - everyone wants an ambitious deal at Copenhagen

COP15 is a frenzied hive of activity, with everyone here trying their hardest to make sure we get a good deal at Copenhagen.

This morning we went to a meeting of business leaders including Skanska, Shell and China Light and Power organised by the Cambridge University Programme for Sustainability Leadership. I wasn’t convinced about Shell’s environmental credentials but all of these businesses and BioRegional and our partner B&Q have signed the Copenhagen Communique. The director of Oxfam International was on the panel and said that the communiqué is a powerful signal that business wants an ambitious deal at Copenhagen. As of today 913 businesses and organisations have signed up and they want to get it to 1,000 by the end of next week. You can help keep the pressure on by signing your organisation up.  We’ve been able to make some good contacts here. After the event we spoke to the lady from China Light and Power to see if they could work with us on the One Planet Community projects in China. Our partner, China Merchants Property Development has already won a UN award for Jinshan, the project we worked with them on in Guangzhou, southern China. But they did not manage to get to zero carbon in the buildings mainly because they found it too difficult to purchase or manage the renewable energy supply.

The NGOs are organising demonstrations and stunts to try and influence the issues that are coming up on a daily basis. When we got back to the Bella Centre, where the main negotiations are being held, I called Andy Atkins the director of Friends of the Earth UK as he had said let’s meet up in Copenhagen. He said “I’m on a demo, would you like to join me?”  So I found myself carrying a placard saying “Don’t Kill Kyoto” as Andy gave me some tips to help us when lobbying at the COP. Andy explained that there is a move to drop Kyoto because the US won’t sign, but if the new Copenhagen agreement is only a political agreement for now, then we might be left with no legal commitment for any country to reduce emissions. I thought good job they are on the case.

Then we attended a side event to support the Danish Society of Nature Conservation. They are our new friends here as we worked with them to develop the calls for climate action presented to COP15 Minister Connie Hedegaard at the Climate Exchange over the weekend. Jens la Cour talked about their excellent work on Climate Communities, getting commitments to annual reductions in CO2 emissions in 55 local authorities. We hope to build on our work with the London Borough of Sutton to do a similar thing in the UK. Greenpeace Denmark was complaining that the right wing government here has reversed or stalled some of the excellent renewable energy policies introduced by the previous government.

The main impression I have after absorbing today’s events is that there is no room at all for complacency. We all have to take action to cut the carbon and we also have to speak out when we see backtracking on commitments already made.

Sue Riddlestone
Executive Director and co-founder