World climate change protests kick off

Raphael G. Satter, Associated Press Yahoo News 9 Dec 07;

Skiers, fire-eaters and an ice sculptor joined in worldwide demonstrations Saturday to draw attention to climate change and push their governments to take stronger action to fight global warming.

From costume parades in the Philippines to a cyclist's protest in London, marches were held in more than 50 cities around the world to coincide with the two-week U.N. Climate Change Conference, which runs through Friday in Bali, Indonesia.

Hundreds of people rallied in the Philippine capital, Manila, wearing miniature windmills atop hats, or framing their faces in cardboard cutouts of the sun.

"We are trying to send a message that we are going to have to use renewable energy sometime, because the environment, we need to really preserve it," high school student Samantha Gonzales said. "We have to act now."

In Taipei, Taiwan, about 1,500 people marched through the streets holding banners and placards saying "No to carbon dioxide." Hundreds marched outside the conference center in Bali. At a Climate Rescue Carnival held in a park in Auckland, New Zealand, more than 350 people lay on the grass to spell out "Climate SOS."

At the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, ice sculpture artist Christian Funk carved a polar bear out of 15 tons of ice as a memorial to climate protection.

Christmas markets throughout Germany were switching off the lights for five minutes, and British cyclists pedaled into Parliament Square in London. In Helsinki, Finland, about 50 demonstrators ground their skis across the asphalt along the main shopping street, calling for decision makers to give them their snowy winters back.

Fire-eaters blew billowing clouds of flames at a rally in Athens, Greece.

In London, demonstrators braved the cold, rainy December weather to descend on Parliament Square, wielding signs marked: "There is no Planet B." Bikers circled the square earlier in the morning to protest the city's traffic and its effect on global warming, organizers said.

The London protest has singled out one particular target — President Bush — calling his administration the biggest obstacle to progress at the Bali talks. Organizers plan to underline the point by ending the protest in front of the U.S. Embassy.

"Bush has been forced to change his language on climate, but continues to be the major obstacle to progress," said Britain's Campaign against Climate Change. "We will not just stand by and allow Bush — or anyone else — to wreck the global effort to save billions of lives from climate catastrophe."

Washington has found itself increasingly isolated at the climate talks. The U.S. position that technology and private investment — not mandatory emissions cuts — will save the planet has drawn criticism.

But Americans too planned protests Saturday. In Fairbanks, Alaska, U.S. activists prepared to ski wearing their bathing suits.

Temperatures were hovering above freezing there, unusually warm for this time of year, said Ritchie Musick, a board member with the Northern Alaska Environmental Center. Normally, temperatures are solidly below zero during this time of year in Alaska's interior.

"Temperatures are getting warmer up here, where you can put your bathing suit on to go skiing, even for a short time," she said.

Global protests to mark Bali climate conference
Yahoo News 9 Dec 07;

Demonstrators took to the streets across the globe Saturday to press world leaders to act over climate change, in coordinated protests marking the ongoing UN environment conference in Bali.

Demonstrations were reported in Austria, Belgium, Britain, Germany, Greece, Spain, Turkey, and the Indonesian island of Bali itself among other places.

Organisers said more than 10,000 people rallied in London, though police put the figure at 2,000.

They marched through the rainy capital, eventually gathering outside the US embassy.

"We feel that dealing with this threat should be the number one priority of the British government, a priority for all areas of policy," said a letter handed in to Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office.

Jonathan Essex, of the Campaign Against Climate Change, which organised the march, said: "If the next generation say to us, 'Daddy, what did you do about climate change?', the answer we should give is that we stopped it.

"Any other answer is unacceptable."

In Germany some 10,000 gathered, again according to organizers, before a symbolic blackout, with people urged to switch off lights for five minutes from 1900 GMT in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

The blackout was planned to plunge historic monuments into darkness, including the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and Cologne Cathedral. Some 5,000 people joined the rally in the German capital, while protests were also held in Munich, Nuremberg, Freiburg and Saarbruecken.

"It is a strong signal of a new movement to protect the climate," said Dirk Jansen of the German green group BUND.

In Bali, about 500 activists carrying effigies and banners marched, with protestors coming from as far as Europe, South Korea and Bangladesh to lobby the United Nations climate talks.

"Stop Climate Chaos", "Rich countries must pay" and "Bush: Killer of the planet", read banners carried by demonstrators the main town of Denpasar.

Nearby in Bali's resort enclave of Nusa Dua, delegates from some 188 nations were trying to lay out a framework for a new deal on tackling global warming when the current agreement expires in 2012.

Elsewhere about 1,000 protestors were reported in Istanbul urging the Turkish government to sign the Kyoto Protocol on climate change and renounce plans to build nuclear power plans, recently approved by parliament.

In Athens more than 1,000 protestors gathered in the main Syntagma Square, while demonstrations were also organised in the northern city of Salonika and other towns.

In Madrid only about 50 protestors gathered in the city centre, carrying banners including "Change of lifestyle, not climate".

In Moscow the event was less successful: police in the Russian capital prevented about 10 protestors on bicycles from gathering, saying their demonstration was not authorised, the Ria Novosti news agency reported.

According to a police estimate, about 3,000 people participated in a march in Brussels against climate change organised by Coalition Climat, a movement made up of about 70 associations.