7 December 2009

News from the inside

Copenhagen - green brainwashing

We've been here almost a week now, but have been too busy with the Climate Exchange to actually look around the city. However after setting up our exhibition stall no 2 at KlimaForum (the people's climate summit, it says) today we had a bit of walk around the city...

The centre is basically an exercise in green brainwashing. There are various earth artworks - 100 things to see before they disappear (London and Copenhagen being two, due to flooding risks the authors say), a melting ice sculpture of a polar bear, there's a giant white ball in the town square, like from The Prisoner TV series it peeks round corners at you; the earth is projected on to it. The French embassy had an aerial performer climbing on the roof to dramatic music while twirling an earth around and symbolically dropping it to the ground - cue dramatic music - bam bam! I've just been handed the Climate Chronicle newspaper and its 'Hopenhagen festival' in the town square too with a music stage sponsored by Carlsberg, and posters for Coca Cola at the bus stops advertise 'a little bottle of hope' - give me a break!

These are just a few examples but basically everyone is trying to get on the green bandwagon here whether for authentic reasons or otherwise. I wonder if the Danes have become immune to all this climate messaging now, the shopping area still looked pretty busy!

Jennie Organ
Communications Manager