The Riddu Riddu Festival presents an Indigenous performance in the lavvu (traditional Saami tent) that has been set up on the North Atlantic Quay starring Inger Biret Gaup and Kristian Mølgaard.

Experience a magnificent performance combining Joik, the traditional chanting song of the Sami people, and mask dancing from Greenland. The performance exposes two genuine indigenous expressions and is a unique meeting between two indigenous people of the North.

Inger Biret Gaup and Kristian Mølgaard will perform on:

MONDAY 14th of december at 4 pm

TUESDAY 15th of december at 4 pm

WEDNESDAY 16th of december at 12:15 pm

IPS' list of COP15 side events and parallel events organised by, involving or of relevance to Arctic and Indigenous Peoples:

5-6 December, IIPFCC (Indigenous Caucus) preparatory meeting; EEA, Kongens Nytorv 6.

7 December, 16:00, WWF Arctic Tent, Youth Day, Presentation by Arctic members of Canadian Youth Delegation, Nytorv.

8 December, 16:30, WWF Arctic Tent, Indigenous Peoples' Day, Nytorv.

10 December, 10:00 - 12:00, Foreningen NORDENs Ungdom, Arktiske folk om klimaet (The climate according to Arctic Peoples), People’s Climate Forum, DGI-byen (by the Main Central Station), Venue 3.

10 December, 18:00: “Making the Declaration Work”, IWGIA book launch, Danish Polar Centre, Strandgade 102.

12 December,12:00 – 13:00, Opening of the Riddu Riddu Lavvu, Presentation of the Ealát project featuring Dr. Robert Corell and Saami youth, the World Reindeer Herders Association and International Center for Reindeer Husbandry, North Atlantic Qua

12 December, 12:00, Opening of the Greenland Representation In the Eye of Climate Change exhibition, North Atlantic House, Strandgade 91.

12 December, 12:00, Opening of the Arctic Venue, organised by the Danish Energy Agency, North Atlantic House, Strandgade 91.

12 December, 10:00 – 20:00, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, organised by IWGIA/Tebtebba, Danish National Museum, Ny Vestergade 10.

12 December, 20:00 - 21.30: Inuit Circumpolar Council side event at the COP15 venue, Using Inuit (indigenous) traditional knowledge in climate change decision making, Bella Center, Niels Bohr room.

13 December, 12:00, Arctic Venue breakout event, the Riddu Riddu Lavvu, North Atlantic Quay.

14 December, 13:00 - 14:30: Danish/Norwegian/Melting Ice side event at the COP15 venue, Melting snow and ice: A call for action, Bella Center, Niels Bohr room.

14 December, 16:00, Saami/Greenlandic performance mixing Joik singing and mask dancing, the Riddu Riddu Lavvu, North Atlantic Quay.

15 December, 15:00, Saami/Greenlandic performance mixing Joik singing and mask dancing, the Riddu Riddu Lavvu, North Atlantic Quay.

16 December, 11:00 - 15:00, Inuit Circumpolar Council parallel event at the Arctic Venue, Inuit and Arctic Indigenous Peoples' Day, North Atlantic House.

16 December, 12:15, Saami/Greenlandic performance mixing Joik singing and mask dancing, the Riddu Riddu Lavvu, North Atlantic Quay.

17 December, 14:45 - 16:15: Arctic Athabaskan Council side event at the COP15 venue, Caribou, people and resiliency in Arctic North America, Bella Center, Victor Borge room.

The 15th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change opened on Monday, 7 December 2009. Concurrently with COP15, the 5th session of the Kyoto Protocol parties (CMP5) as well as sessions of Subsidiary Bodies and Ad Hoc Working Groups also take place in the Bella Centre.

 With the announcement of U.S. President Obama that he will attend toward the end of the conference, the whole discourse on the climate negotiations and the possibility of reaching a renewed international agreement shifted from a pessimistic to an optimistic note. Suddenly, the prospect of merely reaching a political declaration instead of sealing a binding deal was described by commentators as not such a bad result after all. A few days later, the leaking of the so-called Danish Text made the new-found spirit of optimism evaporate and brought the climate summit into disarray. The leaked text, to paraphrase outraged developing countries, is a blatant expression of rich countries covert machinations – within the so-called ”circle of commitment” - to shift the balance of obligations in their own favour and abandon the Kyoto Protocol’s principle of historical debt. Perhaps these lightning fast developments testify to the catastrophic nature, not so much of climate change itself, but rather of the ways in which it is being dealt with. The Danish COP15 organisers and the UNFCCC secretariat expect more than 15.000 delegates of the approximately 200 parties to the convention and the more than a thousand organisations admitted as observers. 14.000 are expected to be nominees of observer organisations alone while approximately 3500 journalists have been accredited to the conference. This means that the Bella Centre will be reaching its absolute maximum capacity should all participants decide to be present at the premises at the same time. The UNFCCC secretariat has announced that a system will be set up to monitor and regulate the participation of each organisation.
Outside of the conference venue itself, clustered around the city centre, numerous parallel events are taking place. On the North Atlantic Quay area, the Riddu Riddu Indigenous Peoples Festival has put up a huge laavu, i.e. a traditional Saami tent, that will serve as a venue for various events and performances, e.g., a Saami/Greenlandic group giving a performance that mixes Saami Joik singing with Greenlandic mask dancing. The Riddu Riddu Lavvu organizers invite Indigenous COP15 delegates to use the lavvu for their own events. If you are interested in using the Riddu Riddu Laavu for an event, you can contact and coordinate with the Indigenous Peoples Secretariat. In the adjacent North Atlantic Building, two exhibitions, ”In the Eye of Climate Change” and the ”Arctic Venue” organised by the Greenland Government and the Danish Energy Agency, respectively, will be open to the public during the COP period. Both of these events opens on Saturday, 12 December, while a closed preview of the former attended by his Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik will take place the day before that. In the DGI town near the main central station, the Peoples’ Climate Forum have organised an event that almost matches the COP itself with respect to extent of programme and number of participants. The outcome of the various workshops, panel discussions etc. that make up the PCF will be a declaration expressing the hopes, ideas, and visions of citizens groups and social movements from all corners of the planet. In one of the central city squares, Nytorv, WWF has set up their Arctic Tent which aims at giving the people of Copenhagen and COP delegates a taste of the Arctic by having scientists youth, Indigenous Peoples, politicians, artists, and adventurers present various views on the theme of Climate Change mitigation. From an Indigenous perspective, perhaps the busiest time will be the weekend in between the two COP weeks, in particular Saturday, 12 December. In addition to the above-mentioned activities on the North Atlantic Quay, the IWGIA/Tebtebba organized Indigenous Day panel discussion event will be held during daytime in the Danish National Museum, whereas in the evening of that same day, the Inuit Circumpolar Council will be hosting a side event, i.e. inside the COP15 venue in the Bella Centre, on Traditional Knowledge in Climate Change Decision Making.

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