Greenpeace unfurls banner from Colosseum
"Make History Now!" activists tell delegates to climate summit
10 December, 09:36
(ANSA) - Rome, December 9 - Greenpeace activists climbed the Colosseum on Wednesday to hang a banner demanding a solid agreement to reduce greenhouse emissions from leaders at the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen.
''Make History Now!'' read the 300-square-meter banner unfurled from the top of Rome's most famous monument by eight of the environmental campaigners.
At the foot of the monument, 50 more Greenpeace activists lay on the ground to compose the same message with their bodies.
''Climate change and world peace are two sides of the same coin,'' said Greenpeace Italy spokesman Francesco Tedesco.
''If we don't act now, the world will soon face famine, mass extinctions and wide-scale migrations, which are all threats to world peace,'' he said.
At the Colosseum to meet with the protestors, Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno declared ''here is a demonstration I can sincerely appreciate''.
A member of Premier Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PdL) Party, Alemanno promised the protestors' message would be heard by Italy's delegation in Copenhagen.
''I wholeheartedly agree with the demand for a solid emissions accord from Copenhagen and know the Italian government is doing its part to see that demand is met,'' he said.
As the summit got underway on Monday, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini confirmed that Italy would push for an agreement binding all participating countries to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.
Last week, Greenpeace activists erected an ice statue of Berlusconi in the Roman Forum intended both as praise for attending the summit and a warning to back it up with action at home.
