Cop15

Two years have passed since world leaders promised all of us a deal to stop climate change. After two weeks of UN negotiations, politicians breezed in, had dinner with the Queen and then failed to deliver any meaningful action on climate change.

As we all try to come to terms with the historic failure of nerve and vision that paralysed the Copenhagen climate summit, the response of Greenpeace members around the world has been fast and focused: expressing their condemnation of world leaders unwilling or unable to lead in a time of crisis, and demanding the release of the four Greenpeace activists who face spending Christmas in jail after making a peaceful protest at the Danish Queen's dinner for Heads of State.

Copenhagen

Over 100 Greenpeace staff and supporters held a candle-lit vigil outside Vestre Fængsel prison, Copenhagen, where four of our activists face spending Christmas in jail - held in isolation and without trial. Three of them took part in the peaceful protest at the Danish Queen's Heads of State dinner during the Copenhagen Climate Summit.

It's over. The fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties has this afternoon officially drawn to a close (or rather all but collapsed), but what are we left with? Very little is the honest answer and, no matter how the politicians spin it or how the media interprets it, it sucks.

Obama called it a "historic first step" and it's neither historic nor a first step. The Kyoto Protocol was both, yet in the 12 years since it was laid down, we've barely progressed - the increasing severity of climate change impacts and the urgent warnings from scientists should have had leaders scrabbling for solutions. Instead, yesterday a small group of these leaders flew in, claimed the deal was done and flew out again, leaving chaos in their wake – and other leaders outraged.

It's a gut-busting, heart-breaking cop-out and I'm so very, very angry although sadly not very surprised. The exhaustion we're all feeling in the Greenpeace team here in Copenhagen only adds to the appalling sense of frustration - our leaders swanned in and let us all down. The deal isn't fair or ambitious and it certainly isn't legally binding. Even though the agreement, such as it is, has yet to be sealed, they have failed.

I hoped it would be different but the skewed nature of international diplomacy has led the Copenhagen summit through two turbulent weeks into an exercise in arm-twisting and back-room deals. The bullying tactics of the developed countries have ensured they have got what they want, despite the attempts of some developing countries to stand their ground.

We thought it unfair that among the Heads of State invited to the Queen's dinner in Copenhagen, that a representative of the whole planet wasn't invited. Earth needed a voice, it needed representation. So we sent two to crash the party...

Hours before the Copenhagen climate summit comes to a close, the future of our planet lies in the hands of world leaders that have just breezed into town. And somehow, instead of getting down to the nitty gritty, they were dining with the Queen.