When the streets of Copenhagen turn the city into “Hopenhagen”

14 décembre 2009 | Par Pierre ROCA

The Euros : live from the Danish capital. Part one.

Unless you have been living on Mars recently you will know that, this Monday, December the 7th, the “COP 15” summit opened in the Danish capital, where the United Nations’ richest countries will attempt to strike an international agreement, aiming at fight back against climate change. If the news was hard to miss in France, Italy or Germany, it has been impossible to find a single citizen in Copenhagen unaware of the fact that something important is going on in the city. Our correspondents in the Danish capital show you around the city.


Poster on the façade of the French embassy in Denmark: France plays the green-advertisement game too, and benefits from the ideal placement of its embassy in Copenhagen.

Bus stops, buildings, public squares and the media : each of them has been armed with advertisements and messages by environmentalist NGOs (WWF and Greenpeace are currently leading the way), private companies (Coca Cola, Siemens, Codan, etc.) and public institutions (the European Agency of Environment, the United Nations’ programme for the Environment – UNPE). Even France is throwing itself into the mix of green publicity, proved by the façade of the French embassy in Denmark, located in one of the most popular squares of the city.

Every square in the ity is adorned with at least one advertisement, each with its own special attraction, be it art-work, games or pictures. From the WWF’s arctic tent, complete with ice polar bear (which is visibly melting, as the temperature in Copenhagen hasn’t dropped below zero yet) to the Christmas tree lit by means of bicycle power, the different actors of the climate sphere have racked their brains to attract the attention of the official representatives of the COP15 and of the passer-by. All this is in spite of the fact that the official conference is actually taking place many kilometres away from the centre of Copenhagen in the Bella centre.


The ice bear of the NGO WWF

The most impressive part of the operation is most likely the “Hopenhagen” campaign (a pun on the word Copenhagen, using the English word “hope” and the Danish word “hagen” (havn) which means “harbour”). In addition to the official campaign’s posters – instigated by the International Advertising Association and continues by its associates, which includes Coca Cola, the group has as well taken over Copenhagen’s main square (Rådhus pladsen), where many free concerts will be held.


Coca Cola’s ad in Copenhagen: The famous American brand is one of the sponsors for the « Hopenhagen » campaign.

However, apart from the frantic communication campaign, considering that some of the main political actors have recently admitted that they will be entering COP15 talks in a cautious mindframe, is it still possible to wonder if Copenhagen rhymes with hope ?

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Autres langues de cet article :

Quand les rues de Copenhague transforment la ville en « Hopenhagen »

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Pierre ROCA

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Vice-président

Diplômé de l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Grenoble et du Collège d’Europe, Pierre vit au Danemark où il travaille pour une compagnie pharmaceutique danoise. Il a notamment été stagiaire auprès de Béatrice Patrie, députée socialiste française au (...)

traducteur

Stephanie Kendrick (translator)

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Stephanie fell into politics quite by accident. After completing a degree in languages, she found she still had a year of academia left in her and turned to the Politics and Government of the EU at the LSE. She is currently doing an internship (...)

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Susana ABALLANET (translator)

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