MCFly 029- Coping with Copenhagen

Afterplay on the G8 summit in Italy

Fiona Harvey of the FT reckons “the point of this meeting was never going to be the declaration at the end of it. The real prize was that Mr Obama sat in a room with other leaders (excluding China, which could not be helped) and impressed on them his determination to make a deal at Copenhagen in the hope that they would transmit a similar level of will to their negotiators.Whether that strategy was a success or failure we will know in December.” Meanwhile, the head of the IPCC, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, has said that the leaders disregarded the IPCC's findings that emissions will have to peak in 2015 and then rapidly decline to avert the worst consequences of climate change.

Activist plans This November activists will be joining together to call for climate justice, using the hunger strike as a rarely-employed but powerful form of peaceful, non-violent protest. We are from all walks of life, including students, teachers, NGO directors, clergy and retirees. www.climatejusticefast.com. Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that a network of radical green groups is planning to disrupt the COP 15 by invading the conference centre and occupying it for a day. Climate Justice Action has said it hopes to mobilise up to 15,000 protesters to storm the Copenhagen climate summit and a large carbon dioxide emitter nearby.

Here in Manchester, Stop Climate Chaos bods have met twice with Manchester City Council, and announcements will be made soon. Richard Leese, leader of the Council, will be attending a few days of the Copenhagen conference (MCFly hopes he gets a window seat on the train, to check out the lovely French/Belgian/ Dutch/German/Danish/German/Dutch/Belgian/French countryside.)

Manchester Climate Forum is holding a “now that we've marched, what next?” meeting on Tuesday Dec 8 at the Friends Meeting House.

UN-animity July 23 The UNs top climate official, Yvo De Boer, has said that the richest nations will have to put $10bn on the table during the Copenhagen climate change summit. He insisted the burden of climate change must be shared and that the money would help developing countries.

And in “WHEW!You can stop campaigning, the world's saved” news, five top UN officials have added their names to an online petition urging world leaders to “Seal the Deal” at Copenhagen.