The Peoples Climate Action is an NGO-based network dedicated to host a countersummit in Copenhagen during the COP15 summit. Since spring this year they’ve been negotiating with the Danish government about coordination, locations and funding of such event.. The Climate Forum have argued that the government should help pay for activities open for the general populace and grassroots to meet up. So far the government have responded with denial of responsability or by stalling until the annual budget had been negotiated in Parliament.

Take from the the poor
Now after half a year their response is finally ready; The Danish government is going to pay 38 mio. DKR (about 5 mio. Euros) to support the Climate Forum, but they are taking 27 of them directly from Denmarks third world development aid. This have made several NGO’s openly critizise the governments disregard for the third world.

“First they are hit the hardest by climate changes they are not responsible for. Then by rising energy- and food prices. And now we’re using the money, we originally promised for schools, health and so on, to pay for the climate instead.” Argues Christian Friis Bach who is head of Danish Church Aid (large non missionary aid NGO).

Money for the sceptic spindoctors
Furthermore, it doesn’t quell the anger that the known climate sceptict Bjørn Lomborg’s think tank Copenhagen Consensus receives an annual funding of two mio. DKR, plus a boost of five mio. DKR for his think tank to promote “possible sollutions to the climate challanges” or as the right wing politician Kristian Thulesen Dahl, from The Danish People’s Party, puts it “To avoid too much halleluja at the summit”.

The NGO’s are backed by activists who are likewise angry and see this as another expression of the Western governments’ intentions and attitudes towards the Third World leading up to the COP15. “This is an outrage! It shows the dirty intentions of the Danish government and spells out an ominous perspective for the Third World coming to Copenhagen in 2009. states Rebecca Ingemann from the activist group KlimaX.

Erik Storrud, also from KlimaX, continues “This seems like an intentional strategy to try and split up civic society. This is another example of the Danish government’s hypocracy on the climate issue. The money should be taken from the Danish state’s CO2-polluting energy company DONG Energy instead!”

Activists, NGO’s and environmental organizations are working together on a demonstration marking the international Global Day of Climate Action on the 6th of December amongst many other individual activities.