Dogon Village News Alerts

In a quiet, monotone manner President Obama spoke urged nations to come together and reach an agreement in Copenhagen. He said:

All major economies must put forward actions to stop climate change.
We must have a mechanism to review whether we are living up to our obligations. There is no international agreement if there is no way to monitor.
Must have financing that helps developing countries.
Mitigation, transparency, financing - that's what's important.
Right now will tell whether we prefer posturing to action.

Time for talk is over. Embrace this accord and continue to refine it. Or, fall back into same divisions with same stale arguments while the danger of climate change grows until it is irreversible.
Now is the time for people of the world to come together. Better for us to choose action over inaction.

I am here in Copenhagen waiting for President Obama to speak. Very high level officials are here from all over the world including Hillary Clinton. Nancy Pelosi brought a US delegation that includes Congressman Charles Rangel. Everyone is eagerly waiting for President Obama to speak as if he can solve the impasse here.

Over 1,000 people were arrested as activists marched in Copenhagen in support of world leaders signing an ambitious, legally binding agreement on emissions cuts. I was there for the full program at the beginning of the march and the crowd was lively and peaceful. It was cold so I headed back to the hotel at the end of the program. A reported 100,000 people marched from Parliament where we were assembled for the program across town (4 miles) to the conference center where officials are meeting.

I don’t know what the protesters did to prompt the police to start arresting people but I can say there were loads of vans filled with police that looked like SWAT units. All of the police seemed very polite and were not intimidating at all. You got the feeling that they were really PEACE officers - there to keep the peace. It's almost 2010, you would think that young people would understand that violence will not get you anywhere.
This was the peaceful demonstration

Copenhagen climate summit: 1,000 anarchists arrested
Nearly 1,000 people were arrested in Copenhagen yesterday as anarchists and left-wing activists fought running street battles with police in the Danish capital as negotiations continued at the climate summit.
By Colin Freeman

Cobble stones were thrown through the windows of the former stock exchange building and foreign office buildings in the city, but police made a large number of pre-emptive arrests under a controversial anti-hooligan law.

Suspected troublemakers were herded into a closed-off street, made to sit down and then tied up with plastic cuffs. They were then bused to a detention centre set up for the climate conference.

Copenhagen climate summit descends into row

Police said four cars were set on fire during the evening. One policeman was hurt by a stone and a Swedish man injured by a firework. Read the full story here

I am in Copenhagen at the UN Climate Conference coordinating media for a number of organization's participating in the conference including Black Women's Roundtable and Environmental Justice and Climate Change. I am finding out quite a few alarming facts about the dangers of climate change and how it disproportionately impacts people of color. The Black Diaspora is represented here. There's a lot of anticipation about a climate agreement. There's also excitement from people around the world about President Obama's decision to attend the conference. He will be here on the 18th.

To see photo's, video and updated information on COP 15 in Copenhagen visit: http://beyondcopenhagen.ning.com/