185 Copenhagen: the black-clad masked militants. China abandons demand for funding

Copenhagen: the black-clad masked militants. China abandons demand for funding

Question: who are these demonstrators? Newspaper reports call them "Anarchists". But at demonstrations I've seen in Australia, the leadership is Trotskyist. That is, from Socialist Alliance, the International Socialist Organisation, or other similar Green Left Groups.

(1) Copenhagen: masked demonstrators throw cobblestones
(2) Copenhagen: masked youths threw bricks and smashed windows
(3) Youths dressed in black threw bricks and smashed windows
(4) Masked youths dressed head-to-toe in black
(5) Copenhagen militants previously demonstrated at Nato summit
(6) Black-clad protesters mounted street battles at Nato 60th summit in Strasbourg
(7) Copenhagen militants aim to break into Conference when Politicians arrive
(8) UK Telegraph: "1,000 Anarchists arrested". Why not say "Trotskyists"?
(9) Australia may foot huge climate change bill for China
(10) Soros says West should donate $110 billion of its IMF reserves to help poor countries go Green
(11) China abandons its demand for funding from West for Climate Change measures

(1) Copenhagen: masked demonstrators throw cobblestones

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=113588&sectionid=351020606

Nearly 1000 detained in Copenhagen climate protest

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:56:57 GMT

Tens of thousands of protesters have marched through the streets of Copenhagen and nearly a thousand have been detained in a mass rally held to demand an ambitious global climate pact.

The protesters called for a far-reaching climate accord to replace the Kyoto Protocol and large-scale transfers of wealth and technology from rich countries to help poor nations adapt to climate change.

Police estimated their numbers at 40,000, while organizers said as many as 100,000 had joined the march from downtown Copenhagen, AP reported on Saturday.

It ended with protesters holding aloft candles and torches as they swarmed by night outside the Bella Center where the 192-nation UN climate conference is being held.

There have been a couple of minor protests over the past week, but Saturday's was by far the largest.

Police said they rounded up 968 in a preventive action against a group of youth activists at the tail end of the demonstration.

Officers in riot gear moved in when people with masked faces threw cobblestones through the windows of the former stock exchange and Foreign Ministry buildings.

SG/SS/HGL

(2) Copenhagen: masked youths threw bricks and smashed windows

Copenhagen summit: 600 arrested at climate change protest

Robin Henry  

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/copenhagen/article6954510.ece

More than 600 people have been arrested at a demonstration against climate change in Copenhagen today.

What started as a peaceful demonstration calling for action on climate change, descended into rioting as hundreds of masked youths threw bricks and smashed windows in the Danish capital.

Police in riot gear arrested between 600 and 700 people, who were cuffed and forced to the ground, before being taken away in vans.

The scenes were in stark contrast to the rest of the colourful demonstration, which had progressed peacefully.

An estimated 30,000 people attended the opening rally, which was part of an international "day of action" to mark the mid-point of the United Nations climate change summit currently being held in Copenhagen.

Police spokesman Rasmus Bernt Skovsgaard said they had taken preventative measures to control activists at the back of the procession

He said: “There was some cobblestone-throwing and at the same time people were putting on masks.”

“We decided to go for preventive detentions to give the peaceful demonstration the possibility to move on.”

Police believe the rioting was started by members of a northern European group known as Black Blocs, who were accused of provoking street violence during a Nato summit in the French city of Strasbourg last April.  ... ==

Copenhagen police detain 968 in climate change rally

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8409331.stm

Police in Copenhagen in Denmark say nearly 1,000 protesters were detained after a huge climate change rally.

The move came after youths threw bricks and smashed windows as more than 30,000 demonstrators marched to demand action at the UN climate change summit.

A police spokesman said "almost all" of those arrested have now been released with just a few facing charges.

Similar marches have been held in cities around the world, calling for decisive action on global warming. ...

(3) Youths dressed in black threw bricks and smashed windows

http://news.scotsman.com/world/1000-arrests-in-climate-summit.5907567.jp

1,000 arrests in climate summit street protest

Published Date: 13 December 2009

By Liz Longden

NEARLY 1,000 protestors were arrested yesterday and two Britons deported as tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Copenhagen to protest over climate change.

The demonstration, which marked the halfway point of critical UN climate talks, included a mass rally outside the country's parliament and a march to the conference centre where negotiations on a new global warming deal are taking place.

However, as tensions rose, demonstrators and police clashed in the streets.

A Copenhagen police spokeswoman confirmed two Britons were deported for vandalism and spitting on a police officer during the protests. And 968 people were confirmed arrested during the demonstrations, mostly for breaches of strict laws against wearing masks during protests.

Official police estimates put the number of protesters at 25,000, but organisers said as many as 100,000 had joined the march from central Copenhagen.

While the protests were largely peaceful, the mood changed late in the afternoon when hundreds of youths dressed in black threw bricks and smashed windows in the centre of the city.

(4) Masked youths dressed head-to-toe in black

Thousands march for tough action on climate change

MARLOWE HOOD | COPENHAGEN, DENMARK - Dec 13 2009 07:28

Mail & Guardian Online

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-12-13-thousands-march-for-tough-action-on-climate-change

Tens of thousands of activists demanding a planet-saving climate deal blazed a path to the door of the United Nations talks on Saturday in a raucous, festive rally that was also marked by sporadic violence and more than 960 arrests. ...

Police estimated the turnout at more than 30 000, while Danish television put the estimate at up to 100 000.

Climate Justice Action, a group involved in organising Saturday's demonstration, accused police of "violating human rights by detaining people in bitter cold, cuffed and forced into seated positions on the ground".

Rally organisers had repeatedly urged the crowd to remain non-violent.

But within minutes of the start, a disciplined band of hundreds of masked youths dressed head-to-toe in black threw bricks and firecrackers, smashing windows in the city centre.

Police moved in quickly, arrested a handful of the agitators, later identified as members of militant groups from northern Europe known as Black Blocs.

"Black Blocs members were seen at 1.41pm picking up cobblestones that they later hurled near the former stock exchange, at several Foreign Ministry windows" and a bank, a police statement said.

Over the course of the day a total of 968 protesters were taken into custody, police said.

Four hundred were Black Blocs militants and most of these were foreigners, "showing that there was a hard core of activists who came to Copenhagen to sow disorder", a police spokesperson said. ... -- AFP

(5) Copenhagen militants previously demonstrated at Nato summit
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/tens-of-thousands-stage-worlds-largest-climate-march-in-copenhagen-1839291.html

Tens of thousands stage world's largest climate march in Copenhagen

Britons deported and hundreds held as preventative measure after bottles thrown.

By Ben Ferguson in Denmark and Jonathan Owen

Sunday, 13 December 2009

Tens of thousands of climate activists marched in Copenhagen yesterday as part of a worldwide "Day of Action" to urge negotiators at UN talks to agree a strong treaty to fight global warming. The rally was mostly held in a carnival atmosphere, but riot police detained about 700 activists at the rear of the march after bottles were thrown and a window at the Danish foreign ministry was smashed. The activists were forced to sit down on the street, with hands tied behind their backs.

The number of people on the march was estimated at 25,000 by police and up to 100,000 by organisers. Banners read, "There is no planet B", and "Change the politics, not the climate". Some activists dressed as polar bears and penguins with signs reading: "Save the Humans!" Some held a giant inflatable snowman under threat of melting from warming caused by burning fossil fuels.

A Copenhagen police spokeswoman later confirmed that two Britons were deported for vandalism and spitting on a police officer during the protests. Police blamed the trouble on militant activist groups, and claimed the troublemakers included groups responsible for provoking violence during a Nato summit in the French city of Strasbourg last April.

The arrests came after the march from the city to the Bella Centre, where the UN Climate Change Conference is being held.

Taking part in the world's largest ever climate-change march, which was named The Flood, and organised by Friends of the Earth, were the supermodel turned activist Helena Christensen, Bollywood actor Rahul Bose, and British actress Helen Baxendale. Christensen said: "They will be very bad politicians if they do not hear us by now."

Protesters were demanding that negotiators strike a deal to prevent catastrophic levels of global warming. In the Global Day of Action, campaigners also staged events abroad, including a four-minute "flashdance" outside the Houses of Parliament, with volunteers across London collecting messages from citizens to give to MPs.

The Flood coincided with the arrival of environment ministers in Copenhagen yesterday for informal talks before world leaders join the summit later this week.

While government officials try to find some sort of compromise, health experts will warn this week of the potentially dire consequences of failure. The lives of hundreds of millions worldwide are being put at risk by climate change, with impacts escalating into the foreseeable future, warns a new report by the World Health Organisation being presented to delegates at the climate talks on Thursday.

Progress against diseases such as cholera, malaria and dengue fever could be reversed, says the Protecting Health from Climate Change report, which predicts that the population at risk of malaria in Africa could rise by 170 million by 2030, and the global population at risk of dengue by an extra two billion by the 2080s. "Climate change threatens the very fabric of global health," said Dr Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, lead author of the report. He added: "We have a choice between a world that is more dangerous, worse for health and more degraded and unfair, and one that is more sustainable, equitable and beneficial for health."  ...

(6) Black-clad protesters mounted street battles at Nato 60th summit in Strasbourg

Nato 60th summit in Strasbourg marred by street battles and arson

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/5105926/Nato-60th-summit-in-Strasbourg-marred-by-street-battles-and-arson.html

Buildings were set on fire and running battles were fought between protesters and riot police in the streets of Strasbourg, where Barack Obama and world leaders have gathered for a Nato summit.

By Bruno Waterfield and Peter Allen in Strasbourg
Published: 5:04PM BST 04 Apr 2009

A violent anti-NATO protest takes place during NATO's 60th-anniversary summit. Anti-NATO activists set up a barricade with a Strasbourg road sign, near the German border at the Europe bridge, east of Strasbourg.  Photo: AP

Anarchists and demonstrators set fires at a hotel, a disused border post and a tourism office around Strasbourg's Pont de l'Europe, a bridge that joins France and Germany.

Police fired volleys of teargas to try to stop groups of violent French and German protesters joining forces to rampage across the city.

Masked youths threw petrol bombs, smashed windows and ransacked shops, forcing police to retreat until riot officers could regroup to seize back control.

Eyewitnesses saw black-clad protesters storm the nearby Ibis hotel, pilfering alcohol from its bar and setting the building ablaze.

"The hotel and the other buildings were completely engulfed in flames," said a resident of the city who witnessed the mayhem.

"The police had completely lost control and the firemen could not put out the flames. It was only when the police sent a squad which fired tear gas rounds that the blaze could be tackled."

As fires blazed, German police officers turned water cannon that they had been using to douse protesters onto the flames.

Many of the protesters - described as a "small army" by one police officer - were members of the sinister Black Bloc group, a notorious anarchist gang. ...

(7) Copenhagen militants aim to break into Conference when Politicians arrive

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/11/2768899.htm?section=world

Copenhagen protests set to escalate

Updated December 11, 2009 20:26:00

A young Australian climate change activist says things may turn violent in Copenhagen with protesters vowing to take over the United Nations meeting next week.

Wendy Miller, a volunteer with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC), is in Copenhagen and says this weekend's protest involving up to 40,000 people in the Danish capital is expected to stay peaceful.

But she says she has heard it will be a different story next Wednesday.

"The sentiment is that there could be an attempt at getting into the conference space, so people who aren't actually accredited actually coming, and in a so-called 'reclaiming' of the conference centre," she said.

"And I imagine that would be to some degree violent. I'm really hoping that it doesn't happen in that way and that the negotiations aren't disrupted."

However a spokeswoman for the AYCC, Anna Rose, does not believe there is any evidence to suggest protests will turn violent.

"In no way does AYCC believe protests will turn violent next week, nor does AYCC support violent protest," she said.

"AYCC supports the peaceful protests that will occur all over the world next week to demand a fair, ambitious and legally binding deal to solve the climate crisis." ...

(8) UK Telegraph: "1,000 Anarchists arrested". Why not say "Trotskyists"?

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
Published: 10:49PM GMT 12 Dec 2009

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/copenhagen-climate-change-confe/6799264/Copenhagen-climate-summit-1000-anarchists-arrested.html

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.

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.

"You don't have to use that kind of violence to be heard," said Connie Hedegaard, the Danish minister presiding at the United Nations talks. She condemned rioters after welcoming the main march at a candlelit vigil outside the conference centre.

One activist group accused the police of abuse complaining people had been forced sit on the road for hours in near-freezing temperatures.  ...

(9) Australia may foot huge climate change bill for China

Glenn Milne

December 13, 2009 12:00am

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,1,26476987-953,00.html

ate change in order to clinch a deal in Copenhagen.

Despite Australia facing a domestic Budget deficit of about $50 billion for the coming year, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong told The Sunday Mail from Copenhagen that Australia would have to contribute to so-called climate "abatement" funds if India and China were to come into the climate-change tent.

"There are a range of figures flying around," Senator Wong said. "(British Prime Minister) Gordon Brown has proposed a $100 billion mix of public and private money. We have not indicated a figure but we have indicated we're prepared to do our fair share."

But new Opposition finance spokesman Barnaby Joyce immediately attacked the proposal.

"Essentially this Copenhagen plan means we borrow money from places like China to pay them to help them develop. I don't think they need our help. They're doing a very good job on their own."

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has previously backed a separate $US10 billion climate fund in talks with US President Barack Obama and Mr Brown.

Reports from Copenhagen say industrialised countries favour a target of 50 per cent reduction of global carbon emissions by 2020 (compared with 1990 levels), but major emerging economies led by China have baulked at any such target unless it is made clear that rich countries will assume most of the burden.

(10) Soros says West should donate $110 billion of its IMF reserves to help poor countries go Green
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/11/2768500.htm

Billionaire Soros unveils gold for greening plan

By Europe correspondent Emma Alberici for AM

Updated December 11, 2009 10:31:00

Billionaire investor George Soros has unveiled a proposal to provide up to $US110 billion ($120 billion) in cash for poor countries to help them develop climate-friendly technology.

Mr Soros made a flying visit to the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen to suggest the International Monetary Fund (IMF) use its gold reserves as the collateral for green loans.

He implored the 192 nations at the climate conference to consider this mechanism as a simple way to transfer money from rich to poor nations.

"There's a gap between the developed and the developing world on this issue, which could actually wreck the conference," he said.

"Developed countries are labouring under the misapprehension that funding has to come from their national budgets, but that is not the case. They have it already.

"It is lying idle in their reserves accounts and in the vaults of the IMF."

Under the Soros proposal, countries would hand over their special drawing rights - international foreign currency assets distributed by the IMF.

"I propose that the developed countries... should band together and lend $US100 billion worth of these SDRs for 25 years to a special green fund serving the developing world," Mr Soros said.

The money could be invested in low-carbon energy sources, reforestation, rain forest protection and programs to adapt to drought, floods and other consequences of climate change, he said.

Heavyweights clash

Meanwhile, the United States and China have been trading verbal blows in Copenhagen.

Beijing says it deserves the lion's share of aid funding for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The Americans have baulked at that suggestion, claiming China is well enough resourced to fund itself and that any deal at Copenhagen will have to involve a firm commitment from China to lower its carbon emissions. ... 

(11) China abandons its demand for funding from West for Climate Change measures

China signals climate funds shift

By Fiona Harvey in Copenhagen

Published: December 13 2009 23:31 | Last updated: December 13 2009 23:31

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b261d086-e81c-11de-8a02-00144feab49a.html

China signalled on Sunday that it had abandoned its demand for funding from the developed world to combat climate change, the first apparent concession by one of the major players at the Copenhagen climate talks.

However, in the same interview with the Financial Times, the most senior Chinese negotiator accused rich countries of preparing to blame a failure at Copenhagen on Beijing.

As the talks entered their critical final week, He Yafei, Chinese vice-foreign minister, said financing from rich countries should be directed to poorer countries.

“Financial resources for the efforts of developing countries [to combat climate change are] a legal obligation,” he said. “That does not mean China will take a share – probably not.

“We do not expect money will flow from the US, UK [and others] to China.”

China has committed itself to cut emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 40-45 per cent by 2020 but had demanded financing from the developed world to take further steps to tackle climate change.

Rich countries, particularly the US, want China and other poor countries to agree to make their commitments on emissions binding internationally and “measurable, reportable and verifiable”, which would enable them to ensure that the necessary measures to cut emissions were taking place.

“We don’t need developing countries to guarantee the outcome of their measures [to cut emissions], but we need the measures to be [verifiable],” one developed country official said.

Mr He, in a sign of the tensions still surrounding the negotiations, insisted this could not be done.

“This is a matter of principle,” he said, and China would not bend them.

But he argued that if the talks foundered as a result, it would be because developed countries had failed to compromise on the issue.

“China will not be an obstacle [to a deal]. The obstacle now is from developed countries,” he said. “I know people will say if there is no deal that China is to blame. This is a trick played by the developed countries. They have to look at their own position and can’t use China as an excuse. That is not fair.”

He said China would stick by its promises. The fact that it would not be bound internationally would “not mean China will do less”, Mr He said.