Activists reveal plan to storm Copenhagen climate summit

Anti-globalisation group Climate Justice action talks of plans to mobilise up to 15,000 protesters to storm Copenhagen summit in December
Gwladys Fouché
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 21 July 2009 11.26 BST

A network of radical green groups is planning to disrupt the international climate change meeting in Copenhagen in December by invading the conference centre and occupying it for a day, it has emerged.
The anti-globalisation group Climate Justice Action has said it hopes to mobilise up to 15,000 protesters to storm the climate summit, and a large carbon dioxide emitter nearby, while negotiators try to thrash out a replacement for the Kyoto protocol.
"We want to take over the summit space to set the global agenda away from false, market-based solutions, towards an agenda of social justice," said Tadzio Müller, a 32-year-old German activist who is part of the group organising the protest. "Real emission cuts will not be achieved by initiatives like carbon trading...It is (the pursuit of) economic growth that is driving us into climate chaos."
But other green groups have condemned the plan. WWF said the action would be "counter-productive". It is "very concerned" that the proposed protest will put off its own supporters.
"If you want to help fight against climate change, you don't storm the building," said Rasmus Helveg Petersen from WWF Denmark. "I don't see the point of this protest."
"We are afraid it might affect our ability to mobilise people during the conference. If there is a sense that there could be violence, people will stay at home."
According to Müller, thousands of activists will take part in the action, organised by an international network of green and anti-globalisation activists called Climate Justice Action. He says: "If the turnout is bad, it will be 2,000-3,000 people. If it is good, it is going to be between 10,000 and 15,000 people." He added that demonstrators will come from a variety of countries, including the UK.
The action will begin with a march in the streets of Copenhagen, ending at the summit's conference site, the Bella Centre in the south of the city, where protesters will attempt to push pass police officers guarding the venue. "The police will try to stop us, but we will try to break the blockade in strictly non-violent ways," said Peter Polder, a 34-year-old Dutch green activist and member of Climate Justice Action.
Activists are also planning to occupy an installation in the Copenhagen area that is a big emitter of carbon dioxide. Polder explains: "It could be a factory or a coal-fired power plant. We are still looking into it."
Danish authorities appear not to be worried by the protest. "It's not the first time we are having a conference in Copenhagen, so we are well prepared," said Flemming Steen Munch from Copenhagen police. He declined to comment on the security measures taken for the conference.
Müller said the climate meeting was a legitimate target for protest because it would not go far enough to tackling the global warming crisis. "There is not a hope in hell that something significant will take place in Copenhagen," said Müller. "Everyone close to the negotiations knows that nothing is on the table."
"Copenhagen will be dominated by false solutions like biofuels and carbon trading," added Polder. "The most effective way to do so is to return to more localised, sustainable economies...We should work on true solutions and not wait for the politicians."
Petersen at WWF disagreed. "We want to influence the summit by engaging as widely as possible ... This protest will not affect the summit and its outcome."
He also dismissed Climate Justice Action's description of their tactics as "a contradiction in terms". "You can't force your way into the conference centre and remain non-violent at the same time," he said.