A weekend in Denmark

On Friday I travelled with over 100 other Christian Aid supporters to Copenhagen, to take part in the civil society actions in the middle weekend of the climate summit. With the talks in deadlock, the presence of thousands of activists from all over the world acted as a reminder that we expect results, and are still hopeful for them. We march to ask for a effective and legally binding deal, which commits to 80% carbon dioxide cuts in industrialised nations like Britain by 2050, and offers a considerable level of support to developing countries, to enable them draw their citizens out of poverty, but without polluting substantially as we have done (this has been called a "leapfrog fund").

After a 19 hour trip, we arrived at 1.00am on Friday evening to stay in a local school, who had kindly agreed to allow us all to descend on their gym floor for the weekend. Saturday, after a morning of placard making and cold showers, saw us join over 100 000 campaigners from throughout the world, in a march from the centre of town, to The Bella Centre where the talks are taking place. APRODEV organisations, including Christian Aid, came together under the 'Time for Climate Justice' banner (APRODEV is the association of the 17 major development and humanitarian aid organisations in Europe, which work closely together with the World Council of Churches).

The demonstration, known as 'The Flood' (The Wave's bigger sister!) was fantastic. At the start of the march we met 28 cyclists, who had spent three days cycling from London, raising a total of £50, 000 in sponsorship towards Christian Aid's development programmes. The opening rally included concerned celebrities like Helena Christensen, and experts like Friends of the Earth International Director Nnimmo Bassey.

News coverage across Europe yesterday focused heavily on the 900 people held by the Danish police early on in the demonstration - when the 'black block' (an anarchist group identified by their black 'uniform') were rounded up, along with hundreds of regular marches who happened to stray into their path - but, as is often the case with media representation, this event was a minor blot in an otherwise fantastic, peaceful and fun day. A samba band, great chants, and some genius adjustments to Christmas lyrics ("Copenhagen are you listening/ In the land where snow is glistening/ If we keep on warming up, the planet like this/ We won't be walking in a winter wonderland") made for a carnival-like atmosphere. Christian Aid, and other NGOs like the World Development Movement, had welcomed international partners from the majority world, who joined us wearing their traditional dress and adding an authentic voice to our claim that climate change is an issue of justice: the developing world being adversely affected by a problem essentially begun by the rich West. Recognising the breadth of support and the level of interest from all over the world, which obviously included a strong presence from Europe, was exciting and hugely encouraging.

On Sunday APRODEV groups, including Christian Aid and the DanChurchAid, started the day with a 'Hopenhagen' rally in the centre of town. Desmond Tutu presented Yvo de Boer (who is currently the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change) with a 'Countdown to Copenhagen' clock representing the 512894 people who had signed the Countdown to Copenhagen pledge, calling on world leaders to act fair and fast, as well as pledging to reduce their own carbon footprints. Tutu, who was clearly revered by the crowd, spoke passionately about of affects of climate change on Africa - "God is crying [when he sees what we are doing to the planet]", he said. But when we join together as one people, in a celebration to call on our governments to act, "God is beginning to smile". He called on Yvo de Boer to represent the people of developing world, and chastised the leaders at the UN Summit, saying "People in the conference centre are fretting in the conference over a financial, economic and industrial crisis - it's actually a moral and environmental crisis". Towards the end of his speech, the crowd chanted "Yes we can!", and I personally wanted to burst out into cheers and woops when Tutu was arguing that the richer nations needed to assist developing countries to develop, with polluting the atmosphere in the way that we have done: "They can afford it. Just think of the money that is being spent on arms, just think of the money that is being spent to kill their brothers!!"

This was followed by an ecumenical service in Copenhagen's Cathedral, where Archbishop Rowan Williams gave an inspiring sermon, and Desmond Tutu offered the blessing in his mother tongue. Representatives from faith groups in Greenland, Zambia, Denmark and Tuvalu participated in the service, which was attended by a packed congregation, an overflow of over 100 people in the University Hall, and a small crowd of people outside the Cathedral watching in the freezing cold on a big screen. The weekend ended for us with another monster coach journey, ending at 9.00am this morning back in London.

We all had an amazing time. The Christian Aid group included seasoned and mature supporters, a group of Platform2 returnees (Platform2 is a government-funded scheme to allow people who haven't had a chance to travel, to opportunity to volunteer abroad for 10 weeks), a group of students and their chaplains from Lancaster University, and a People and Planet group from Bristol. Climate change seems to be an issue that has the power to spur a whole variety of groups into action, and unite under one banner. We have little choice but to come together. Climate change is a cumulative problem, that needs to be dealt with at an international level, with no nations or communities left unpersuaded that they need to act. For as Desmond Tutu argued on Sunday, "this is one problem, where we'll all be winners or all be losers". Whatever deal comes out of Copenhagen, it's imperative that all over the world people put pressure on governments, industry and their local communities to slash their carbon emissions, and consciously discern the affects their actions have on the only planet we have been given.