In Copenhagen and around the world, activists are rallying to demand
strong commitments for environmental action by the international
climate change conference in the Danish capital.
Tens of thousands of protesters marched in Copenhagen Saturday. They
carried banners and shouted slogans, and some dressed as polar bears -
a species threatened by global warming.
About 300 activists dressed in black were detained by police who suspected the group was looking to cause trouble.
In Australia, organizers estimate at least 40,000 people took part in a
"Walk Against Warming." Demonstrations also took place in Beijing,
Indonesia, Manila, and Taipei.
International negotiators are entering their sixth day of talks, aimed
at creating a global treaty to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
An early draft of the treaty calls for world emissions to be reduced by
at least 50 percent by the year 2050, with rich nations taking the lead.
One of the key issues that needs to be worked out is how to help finance efforts to combat climate change in developing nations.
The draft treaty circulated Friday would require industrialized
countries to cut emissions to below-1990 levels. Developing nations
would be expected to keep their emissions from rising much further.
An envoy for the tiny South Pacific nation of Tuvalu made an emotional plea (at Saturday's session)
for countries to agree to a legally binding agreement. Fighting back
tears, Ian Fry told delegates that they hold his country's fate in
Tuvalu consists of nine low-lying coral atolls and could disappear
beneath rising sea levels created by melting of polar icecaps and
More than 100 heads of state and government will be in the Danish capital for the conference at the end of next week.