By Nina Somera, Isis International

Thirty four people were arrested from yesterday’s “Reclaim Power” mobilisation where civil society protested its exclusion from the climate talks. As in the previous mobilisation where more than 100,000 people showed up on the streets, the police once more unleashed violence as they used teargas and batons in dispersing the protesters.

Those detained are facing at least two charges, violence against the police and disturbance against public order. Similarly, six people who were arrested in the previous mobilisation have yet to be released. Under Danish laws, those detained who come from the United States, Russia, Australia and Denmark might remain behind bars from three to four weeks.

Tom Kucharz of Ecologistas en Accion said, “We really have to take this issue as seriously as we can.” He exhorted civil society organizations and other stakeholders to initiate actions such as petitions that are addressed to the Danish government, calling for the immediate release of the detainees.

Today, some members of CSOs staged another mobilisation, with the call, “Reclaim Civil Rights. Free the Political Prisoners.”

Just before the last day of COP 15, national delegations are scrambling to produce a document at the end of the process. A representative from the Global Justice Ecology Project shared that the discussions would centre on the Kyoto Protocol and the Long-term Cooperative Agreement (LCA). The controversial Danish text that was leaked to the media, “will not be tabled anytime.”

Developed countries still refuse to budge on the demands for deeper cuts in their emissions as required by science. No significant public money is likewise being committed. Although the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier announced a US$100 billion fund for climate change, this money is likely to go through the World Bank and exacerbate the climate crisis.

Meanwhile, some developing countries are also being co-opted by developed countries. For instance, France and Ethiopia are joining forces in the discussions of LCA.. Australia is also offering money to small island developing states in exchange for the latter’s nod for two degrees.

Despite the freezing temperature, CSOs will continue to stage mobilisation on the derailed talks and detained protesters.