In COPENHAGEN
DAY 10 of the UN climate change negotiations and it was as if someone flicked a switch on the conference atmosphere in the middle of the night.
While the mood at the beginning of the conference was one of high hopes, smiles and greetings, the mood has distinctly soured as time is clearly running out for negotiators to prepare a deal before all the world leaders congregate at the Danish capital.
World leaders started arriving in droves today, and tensions are rising both inside and outside the conference venue Bella Centre. Tempers are also flaring both inside and outside, as Danish police shut off delegates press and NGOs outside from the conference venue, and on the inside, delegates snapped at each other in disagreement over the final text.
I was warned of demonstrations happening again today outside the Bella Centre, but I was certainly not prepared for the contrast of sights and sounds that greeted me while I tried to reach the venue. While the mood on Saturday during the climate change demonstrations that involved 50,000 was largely peaceful and some might even say festive, with campaigners in clown costumes or dressed as polar bears, the atmosphere was significantly different today. (Check out the video here.)
Buses were refused entry into the venue and people trying to get into Bella Centre had to take the metro, only to find the venue's metro stop had also been closed off.
Looking down on the hundreds of protestors that had gathered outside the venue, I saw one protestor climb on top of a police van to start chanting. Immediately, a Danish police officer got on top, and started using a baton to hit the guy. Chaos pursued, the crowds started shouting and the police started shouting back. They also used pepper spray to try and break them up.
Just a few metres away, a group of UK activists deployed eight inflatable mattresses to create a pontoon bridge across a canal which runs about 400m from the Bella Centre. They sat on the mattresses, throwing sausages at the police dogs on the bank opposite in an "act of irony", they apparently said.
After getting off the metro - one stop after the Bella Centre station - I had to walk almost 1 kilometre to get to the entrance, and the passage was flanked by armed police, numerous vans, and police dogs. Danish police have arrested hundreds of people over the past week and have been accused of being unnecessarily heavy-handed.
I got a dose of this myself when I approached the entrance to the venue. For some reason, everyone was refused entry into the venue. It was approaching zero degrees outside in the cold and the cold harsh wind was blowing bitterly. This did not help everyone's mood.
UN officials, along with Ministers, the IPCC chairman, hordes of press and delegates were trying to get in and Danish police refused to budge. Some delegates within the Bella Centre came out to receive their ministers but were told nobody could step inside. One delegate in particular, ticked off by the arrogance of the Danish police and unwillingness to cooperate, started shouting: "I will never let a Danish into my country again!" (Check out the video here.)
Finally, police started letting in only UN officials and selected delegates. But there was a rush as people tried to advance towards the entrance. I was nearly crushed as everyone pushed forward. At this moment, getting stampeded on was a reality I started to contemplate. The atmosphere was getting dangerous, police started pushing and shoving the crowd, even press members who were just standing there not making any trouble. (Check out the video here).
One TV reporter got very impatient and started pushing more agressively, and Danish police started shouting at him: "Don't be a troublemaker, or I'm going to have to arrest you." Then a scuffle broke out, both the TV reporter and the police officer tried to punch each other. The reporter soon got overpowered and was arrested, led away by the police while several other TV crews tried to capture the entire episode on camera.
ST photo: Jessica Cheam
The episode soon turned the police attitude towards the press for the worse. They started driving the press members backwards, not caring if anyone fell. I gave up and tried to escape the crowd before being crushed to death. I decided to try another entrance - but after walking for half an hour in the cold - was told again by Danish police that entry was refused. Another walk back to the original entrance, and finally, almost two hours since I arrived at the entrance, they were letting press and delegates with accreditation into the venue.
Police checks at every corner going to Bella Centre. ST Photo: Jessica Cheam
Again, crowds started pushing. When I finally got through the venue, it was more than my press ego that was bruised. Everyone was in such a foul mood, no thanks to the police heavy-hand attitude, who made us all feels like we were criminals. Also, there was no explanation nor updates from the Danish authorities as to what was going on, or why we were even shut out in the first place.
One Scandinavian, Camilla Hall, who was Swedish but has lived in Singapore the last 10 years said to me: "I'm so ashamed of the Scandinavians. If this conference were held in Singapore, we would never be treated like that."
The Danish police were unbelievably rude. ST Photo: Jessica Cheam
I had to agree. I had covered the recent Apec summit last month and in comparison, there were no queues, no trouble despite the tens of thousands that participated in the conference. Times like this I realise that effiency is taken for granted by so many Singaporeans.
Inside the Bella Centre, government leaders had begun giving their national statements. The NGOs were fuming for being locked out of the conference. As I approached the entrance inside, many protestors were forced to sit on the floor, being guarded by police. They were holding signs that said "Yvo de Boer. Open the Door." The organisers has refused entry to NGOs in the last few days of the conference due to the venue being in over-capacity. NGOs have said it is unfair for them not to be involved, and put the delegates and the final text under public scrutiny.
Security concerns continue to be a top issue, causing plenary sessions to be suspended.
If this goes on, we will never find the time to finalise a deal. Things, besides the weather, are decidedly looking very bleak.