Photo Credit: Lindsay Cray
Today, all those who hoped to enter the COP 15 had an average wait of about 10 hours. As one of the thousands that waited patiently outside in the freezing temperatures, I watched from within the crowded mass as people shuffled forward. They came in droves, flooding the metro lines and the buses only to find themselves in a line that spanned a half mile long – at least, that’s about how long it was when I arrived at 7:30am. To alleviate the wait people were handing out free coffee and others vegetarian sandwiches. We received free magazines and newspapers about the conference, which for a short while, served as a distraction from the cold.
Looking around me I realized that I was standing with not only citizens and students, but members of the Danish Parliament, reporters from the BBC, leaders from the Danish Red Cross, economic advisors from Mexico, and many other international representatives from countries such as, Sweden, India, Brussels, The Netherlands, England, Switzerland, Brazil, Russia, Colombia and more. In line we waited, toes and fingers numbing, noses and cheeks reddening – all for the same purpose, to register for an ID and have our chance to participate in the COP15.
After about 4 hours however, word had floated back to us from inside the gates that they were closing registration for the afternoon. Some made mention of how the registration system had malfunctioned and was temporarily incapacitated. The crowd became aggravated. “Let us in, Let us in!!!” they began to shout. I was eventually lucky enough to make my way past the main gate with a small crowd, but to no avail – another four-hour line. Again I waited, chatting with whoever got caught up in group conversation. I tried not to pay attention to my aching feet and back. It began to snow… What was going on? Why weren’t we moving? WHY was there no communication from inside? Suddenly a woman walked by us and leaning in, she reported “there are 20 security booths and only one is working.” We were shocked. How could this be happening at a United Nations summit? More importantly though, what message was this giving to the public about the functionality of the UN? Just as these thoughts ran through my mind (and probably the minds of everyone around me as well) a very well known Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank, walked by our line. He exclaimed to us his disappointment with the poor management of the registration process. “I apologize for how terribly this event is being handled by the UN, really I do.” For me, this said everything.
At about 3:30 I was granted entrance into the room for security screening and waited another hour before being allowed through the security lines and into the final line to register. I passed the Conference Center main doors. “This way madam, into the warmth” a UN greeter instructed. How fitting. There it was though, the last line! I could see the sign for registration and starred at it intently for the last hour I was made to wait before being handed this fabled ID. My passport and invitation were checked, my photo was taken, the badge was in my hands. Was it worth all the aches and aggravation, all the waiting??? We will soon find out….
[...] you can see in Lindsay’s Post , registration has been quite hectic however, and many participants were not even able to get in to [...]