6 December 2009

News from the inside

Danish minister says please keep the pressure on – that means you too!

We got a real insight into the negotiations this afternoon from Connie Hedegaard, the Danish Minister for the Climate Conference.

Connie came to the Climate Exchange to accept the carbon reduction pledges we had collected from the public over the last four days and the calls for action to the world leaders we had developed with the public and the Danish Society for Nature Conservation.

Connie then made a speech to the hundreds of people present, she said:

“Please keep the pressure on for the next twelve days. The fact that the US President has changed his plans to come to the COP15 at the right time proves that the pressure works. It is a crucial moment. Some people are saying can’t we just postpone getting a deal for three months or a year. I warn you all against this. The moment is now, the momentum has built up. It has taken years to build up this pressure. If they leave empty handed it will take years to build it up once again.

There are forces who would prefer each country to do as they like, but this will not be good enough.

The moment is now to get the ambitious deal. We won’t get higher targets if we wait, not even in three years and not from the USA.  What if the situation becomes worse in Afghanistan?"

You can see a picture of Connie next to our rather lovely brightly coloured pledge cards!

Connie was really inspiring and we thought OK we’ll do our best Connie.

So please dear reader do whatever you can to keep the pressure on for the next twelve days and we will too. We’ll be at the Bella Centre where the negotiations take place. We’ll stalk the corridors and talk to anyone remotely influential to encourage them that a sustainable, ultra low carbon future is achieveable, attractive and affordable and therefore try and do our bit to help tip the balance.

Sue Riddlestone
Executive Director