SANDBAG
SOLIDARITY
International Friends of the Earth
activists from some 35 countries joined
forces at the November 2000 Climate Summit
in The Hague. A smoothly-coordinated,
geographically representative team of FoE
lobbyists, campaigners and press people met
each morning inside the conference centre
to plot out a strategy for the upcoming
day. While some FoE representatives closely
followed the moves of officials from their
countries/region, others tracked specific
and complex issues in the negotiations.
The media team churned out regular press
releases on FoEI's now trademark bright
green paper. Many FoE representatives were
interviewed by their national media, and
international press coverage was
impressive. Near the end of the two week
conference, when the most interesting
discussions were taking place behind
tightly closed doors, FoE took to printing
out colourful and confrontational posters
(see page 7) and plastering them around the
conference centre.
The highlight of FoEI's activities in
The Hague, and perhaps of the entire
conference, was the building of an enormous
dike around the conference centre on
November 18
th
. Some 5,000
people, hundreds of them arriving by bus
from all parts of Europe, filled 50,000
sandbags in order to build a dike measuring
500 metres long and 1.5 metres high. The
atmosphere was festive, several FoE
speakers and climate change witnesses spoke
to the crowds, and the dike was built in
record time and covered with colourful
banners, flags and messages.
The dike quickly became a symbol for the
conference, reminding UN delegates that
people around the world demand real action
on climate change. Sandbags were placed
inside the negotiating rooms, and Dutch
Prime Minister Wim Kok told the plenary:
"This sandbag can go once you've come to an
agreement. It shows the solidarity of
thousands of people from all over Europe
who were here to show their political
will."
On the evening before the crash of the
Summit, FoE activists presented EU
Ministers with sandbags and asked them to
remain tough in their positions. Every two
hours during the final hours of the talks,
FoE members wearing raincoats and armed
with flashlights inspected the dike as part
of a "floodwatch", indicating the state of
talks with coloured boards. Within minutes
of the talks collapsing, the "floodwatch"
team began to "collapse" the dike and sent
sandbags tumbling into the adjacent pond.
Flood sirens symbolically sounded disaster,
and a huge banner reading YOU'VE SUNK THE
WORLD! was raised outside the conference
centre.
Sarah Donnelly, FoE England, Wales and
Northern Ireland
