Highs and Lows of Copenhagen

I've come to Copenhagen as an activist. Three years of grassroots activism with the UK Climate Camp meant I knew I had to come to this summit. As I now approach my final day here I wanted to share with you my highs and lows from the experience.

Highs

• Cycling through the falling snow with my activist 'affinity group' on our way to the Reclaim  Power action 
• Recycling a broken down, disused bicycle found on the street into a resitance machine to use in the bike bloc
• Dancing the Hokey Cokey whilst facing a line of riot police
• Glimpsing a tiny smile on the face of one of the line as we continued to dance
• Taking part in a meeting of hundreds of activists from across the world knowing we come from many backgrounds but are united in our struggle for climate justice
• Eating more danish pastries than really necessary
• Seeing our movement constantly evaluate its effectiveness and look for new ways to achieve the change we need

Lows

• Realising brogues were really not suitable footwear for taking direct action in the snow
• Feeling the freezing water seep unto my feet and almost, almost wanting to cry
• Listening to a fellow activist tell of his degrading treatment in a Danish cell
• Hearing a friend had been arrested, detained for two days and deported for having a bike repair tool....in a bike workshop
• Hearing this summit we knew would fail had done so spectacularly