Activists formed the word “Shame” with candles in the centre of Stockholm last Friday.
Coming back to Sweden after the climate summit in Copenhagen I see a lot of deep disappointment. Politicians talk about the outcome as a failure and many environmental and climate groups rage over the “Copenhagen accord”, which does not include binding targets and many vague wordings.
More hope than despair
But reading e-mail lists and following discussions on the internet I also find a lot of fighting spirit. Many mean that the local work to tackle climate change will be even more important, as world leaders do not seem able to agree on how to do it. “People have to start and continue conversations with each other at a grass root level, conversations which lead to actual action”, one activist writes.
Later today there will for example be a torchlight procession in Gothenburg, to infuse new hope for the future. And no matter what is decided in the UN plenary halls, much of the actual work will have to be made at the local level. There is no lack of good examples. I will focus more on that in my reporting the coming time.
