Tens of thousands protest in London before Copenhagen climate change summit

Sunday, December 6, 2009 

Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through London earlier today, calling for a deal to be made at this week's Copenhagen Climate Conference in Denmark. Similar such marches were held in Belfast, Dublin, and Glasgow.

According to the London Metropolitan Police, twenty thousand people attended the march. Organisers, however, claimed that about forty thousand people were present at the demonstrations. The march began at Grosvenor Square and continued all the way to the Parliament building on the Thames river.

The march contained members of groups such as Oxfam, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and the World Wildlife Fund. Protestors were asked to dress in blue, supposedly to symbolise a "wave" of people around the Parliament building.

The chief executive of Oxfam, Barbara Stocking, said in a statement that "the UK government must fight for a comprehensive, fair and binding deal at Copenhagen — that is our demand today and we expect it to be fulfilled.

"They must return home with a strong, effective climate deal both for our own sakes in the U.K. and for the millions of poor people already suffering from the effects of climate change around the world."

Sources

• "Climate protesters march in London" — Al Jazeera, December 5, 2009
• Jennifer Quinn. "Climate change protesters take to London streets" — Associated Press, December 5, 2009