Global Wake-Up Call on climate

Copenhagen is drawing nearer - already Climate Rush visited Stroud Friday and Saturday - although were held up on Saturday getting to the framers Market (see local Green party comment here and here for their website re their tour). I saw them on route to Stroud in Fairford last week when I was there for work - just before (or was it after?) they dumped manure at Jeremy Clarkson's home (see report on that below).

Photo: Green District councillors sign up to 10:10 - see here - more on that locally coming soon

Today is Sept 21 and the Global Climate Wake-Up - the local event will be at sub-rooms in Stroud at 7pm prompt - see here.

Avaaz, who are organising the day are suggesting we phone our own governments - already activists are flooding the media and government office phone lines worldwide with wake up calls for leaders to act - I've just tried on 5 of these numbers and can't get through on any!!!! I will try again....

Prime Minister Gordon Brown
(+44) 020 8144 7459 / 0300 060 4000
Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband
(+44) (0)207 979 7777 / 0300 060 4000
Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs David Miliband
(+44) (0)20 7008 1500
First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills Peter Mandelson
(+44) (0)20 7215 5000 or (0)20 7215 6740 (Minicom)

What Avaaz are asking is that we ask leaders to commit to go to the Copenhagen climate meeting in December and agree on a global climate deal that is FAIR, AMBITIOUS and BINDING (“FAB”), and ask them to register your call and convey the message to the decision-maker. Once you’ve made your call, visit the Wake-Up Hub and post a short update on how it went in the live-blog on the [right] of the page:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/sept21_hub/

In recent weeks, Avaaz have surprised national governments, heads of state and political parties with sudden barrages of thousands of calls. These phonecalls tie up staff and shut down phone lines - but they are never missed, and time after time, we're finding, they work. 14,000 calls reversed the Brazilian President's position on a new climate protection law, 3,000 calls persuaded the German Chancellor's party to engage with climate groups, just a few hundred calls got the attention of top advisors to French President Sarkozy. We have less than three months left until the final UN meeting in Copenhagen, where we'll succeed or fail to get an historic global treaty to place binding global limits on carbon pollution, stop a climate catastrophe and unleash a new clean and green economy. Our leaders are nowhere near success, they're not even planning on going to Copenhagen. We must try and change that!

Other local actions

Also in the run up to Copenhagen locally there is a march and rally in Gloucester on 17th October 11.30 to 12.30 - starting at Gloucester City Council Offices. Then 'International day of climate action' on Oct 24th with the environmental campaigning group 350.org - two local projects at the moment that I'm helping - to build 350 beehouses by 24th Oct and hopefully, if funding comes through, to plant 350 trees at Thistledown near Nailsworth with Woodcraft groups.

Climate Rush in Chipping Norton

Dressed as Suffragettes, seven activists from the environmental group Climate Rush, unloaded two bags of manure, plus a banner bearing the message "This is what you're landing us in", in his front lawn.

Group spokeswoman Millie Forrester, 19, said to the press: "I love Jeremy, I love fast cars, I love progress, but I learnt some things and those things terrify me. I learnt that climate change will make my future unrecognisable. I know that I'll not have the same choices that Jeremy has now. If we keep on loving the fossil-fuelled lifestyle then by the time I hit 49 the world will be too busy coping with the impact of climate change to bother about how big an engine is possible. I'm the biggest libertarian of them all – I'm dumping dung at Clarkson's gates so he might understand that his attitude will land us all in manure."

The group claims to have targeted Mr Clarkson because of his "blasé attitude towards climate change" and have made reference to his recent drive to the Arctic, which they say emitted an estimated 1.7 tonnes of carbon.