Saturday, December 12, 2009

99,998 isn't nearly as impressive as 100,000

Authors note: Steve wanted to call this post "The Hobbits in Isengard":



...but Sarah thought it was too obscure and vetoed it. Feel free to email her if you think she made a poor call.


When it comes right down to it, today was the reason we came all this way. As Steve has put it on numerous occasions, we wanted "to be counted" among all of those that are outraged by the lack of international governance action on this issue and who refuse to stand by as yet another opportunity for ambtious change passes our world by. As Canadians in particular, we have both been frustrated many times by the obstructionist position the Harper government has taken at climate-related meetings in past years (and continues to take here in Copenhagen). In fact, the inception of this trip came while watch the news, as we sat yelling at Environment Minister Jim Pretince about his out-dated, dangerous and, quite frankly, embarrassing take on the COP15 negotiations and what Canada needed to do in order to fulfill its duty on the global stage.

So we came to put ourselves on the ground and add our voices and bodies to the many, many others demanding effective and meaningful action on climate change. While we have been here almost a full week and have been very active, today was really the first day involving any kind of direct action and it was exciting to say the least. Estimates earlier this week were ranging from 30-60,000. On Thursday, the husband of one of the organizers told me they were actually thinking 25,000. I thought these numbers seemed a bit low, but I had also been advised that the Danes shy away from participating in public demonstrations, particularly given that the police have been a bit overzealous in actions in the past few months. This morning, as we headed around the corner onto the street leading to the public square in front of the parliament building I actually commented to Steve "I just really hope there is a good turn out". Well, it seems I had little to worry about as the final estimate being reported in the city is 100,000 people! Amazing. There were obviously many, many organized groups in attendance, but what really struck me, as we talked to people during the march, were how many people currently living in other European cities decided last minute to come and join in. We found a couple of women studying at Guelph who are here writing for Canadian Dimension Magazine (we actually got interviewed!), with a "Canadians Blame Canada" banner:


You will not the disappointment and disgust on our faces. You will also note that Steve's hat matches his coat. This is not a coincidence.

We also met up with a small group carrying Canadian flags with "Tar Sands Climate Crime" written on them:



We ended up walking most of the march with this group, which was great - not only were the people very interesting and friendly, but carrying the flag drew many other Canadians to us, giving us the opportunity to meet many others who feel much the same as we do when it comes to Canada's current environmental policies (especially as they relate to the tar sands).

It was such an inspiring day that I find it difficult to even know what to say. Simply, it was great to see just how many people care enough to march for 3 hours in the fridged Danish winter with the sun setting at 3:30 in the afternoon with 1.5 hours of the march still to go. It is so easy to become exhausted and jaded and to lose hope that alternative systems and solutions are possible and I find that while I frequently reach this point here, every time I do there are people and events that pull be back and give me hope and remind me that at the end of the day the future we choose really is in our own hands and we do not have to except the system we have, nor the status-quo solutions currently being offered. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to the many, many more action events scheduled for the coming week (starting with a demonstration at the Canadian Embassy on Monday morning - tomorrow is a school work day for us, as Steve still has to write a take-home exam (Steve's note: how to concentrate on what does or does not constitute a bona fide occupational requirement in a wrongful termination suit when the climate is on the line!) and I have to put in some time on my MRP which is due the day after we return).

And now: Steve introduces the photo spread (about which he feels quite passionately despite his refusal to actually take any photos and merely instruct me what to photograph all day): Of the many infirmities of the human species, likely the most tragic is our deficient sense of perception and appreciation. We find ourselves in the current climate crisis because even if we can claim to percieve the problem we have a natural inability to appreciate the urgency and enormity of it. Tragically, this same imperfection of faculties can operate to blunt the demonstations seeking to remedy the problem. Begin on the ground, you do not see 100,000 people. At only one time you-re lucky to se see maybe 5,000 and thus your perception of the situation is seeing a series of 5,000 bodies, whose sum never reaches 100,000, and never leave 5,000. The aid of aerial photos may help the perception shortcomings but does so at the expense of appreciation. Seeing 100,000 nebulous pixels of colour (if you could even distinguish each dot from the large mosaic), does not help you appreciate the experiences and hardship each took to be present, the passion behind their pleas, and the volume and intensity with which they make them. Each individual photo below is bounded by a frame which exclude 995,000 people (and likely more), and the demonstration itself is bounded by logistics which exclude millions and billions more. Despite this, we hope they give you at least a sense of the power of the crowd today.

Gathering at the Square


You may have to look closely, but the streets all along the canal and across the bridge leading into the square are all totally packed.






Heading Out









The Greenpeace boats were docked next to the bridge you cross leaving the square.



Along the March









Greenpeace's polar bears in their reflective vests posing with the police officers guarding the McD's.




Arriving at the Bella Center

Unfortunately, this photo came out quite dark, but it gives some sense of the size of the crowd - this is only part of the stretch of a main road taken up by the demonstrators.




If you look down the crowd, on the left you can see a block of light that is a massive big screen tv - it gives some ide of just how far back we are and how big the crowd was - and this is probably only about 2/3rds of the group!

1 comment: