Environment Forum
Global environmental challenges
Sleeping next to activists in Copenhagen
There’s no concierge, no bellboy nor even a check-in counter. There’s no lobby, nor mini-bar and not even any heating. But despite the lack of amenities there was still something special about sleeping alongside 2,000 other climate change activists in an empty warehouse in an industrial section of northwest Copenhagen last night.
It’s cold, loud and dusty. But the price is unbeatable and so is the atmosphere. 
You could say they were all happy campers.
There’s no charge but donations are welcome. There’s even breakfast available, a delicious porridge concoction. And even free wireless, which is helping me get this post written. Last night I managed to find a fairly empty corner on the cold cement floor of this drafty warehouse shortly before midnight but by the time I woke up at 7 a.m. there were hundreds more activists in sleeping bags crowded around me. They had been streaming in through the night.
One of the organisers just announced that there were 500 more activists from Britain due to arrive within the next few hours. “So could you please try to make some space for them by moving your sleeping bags together,” he said through a megaphone.
