The Arrival

Our final morning was marked by light clouds and fierce North Easterly wind. The route was a little more complicated than previous days and I navigated carefully only to arrive at our coffee stop 20 minutes ahead of everybody. (This included me over shooting a turn by 500m and stopping to take a photo of some swans on the salt lakes as we took a cycle path up the coast.) I was just about to set off for the home stretch into Copenhagen when we were informed that our route into the city was blocked by police. We took the main roads instead and arrived late for our grand entrance. People did cheer us on and there was a small crowd to greet us as we arrived at the Cathedral square. The police had apparently moved on a sizable crowd, but the Archbishop of Canterbury was in among the few who remained. I then made a quick change into my marching outfit. We joined the coach loads of Christian Aid campaigners at the main march. It was a diverse mix of campaigning groups including a very vocal bunch of students calling for nothing short of revolution. The anarchists passed by and probably made up the bulk of the reported 300 arrests later in the afternoon. One of our group was on hand and described how the police moved in on a specific group while informing the other marchers that they were acting to keep them safe. As darkness fell the temperatures dropped and we didn't make it to the Bella Centre where the talks are being held. Sunday morning was marked by a symbolic handing over of some half a million petitions calling for climate justice. We had none less than Archbishop Desmond Tutu handing them over to the UNFCCC chief. This was shortly followed by the ecumenical service in the Cathedral. We queued up in the cold with several hundred others while hordes of dignitaries were channelled in front of us. I had a seat right at the back with a big TV camera behind my shoulder. The format and choice of hymns was very good. The Queen of Denmark arrived along with some politicians but they were all sidelined by the church leaders taking part. Archbishop Rowan gave the address entitled "Love conquers all fear". It was simple and effective. The highlight for me was a choir from Greenland. This reminded me that Climate Change is very much a reality for the Danish in remote parts of their nation.