Monday, September 21, 2009

AVAAZ on climate change

The global climate wake-up call is here! Now all of us can get involved from home -- by making a phone-call to our own governments, or following this extraordinary day of action as it unfolds around the world -- plus, there’s still time to join a local event near you!

The press is reporting that global climate talks are in a shambles and the UN summit on Tuesday is the only hope to revive them. This Monday, we’re flooding media and government office phone lines worldwide with a wake up call for leaders to act -- with phone calls being made from over 2000 rallies, marches, meetings and "flashmobs" in public places across the planet, and by hundreds of thousands of us from home.

We've sourced government phone numbers for your country, with suggestions about what to say. You find all the information you need about the great Global Wake-Up Call events and phone-calls on the hub page at the link below, including photos, video and a liveblog for us to share our experiences of the day -- make a phone-call from home or work and tell us how it went at this link, or find an event near you to attend:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/sept21_hub/

Here are the numbers to call in your country (Please start calling after 12.18pm Monday local time):

President Jacob Zuma
(+27) 012-300 5200 (+27) 021 - 464 2100

President Assistant Private Secretary
(+27) 012-300 5226 / (+27) 021-464 2174/2181

Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Ms Buyelwa Patience Sonjica
(+27) 012-336 8733 / (+27) 021-464 1500


If you don't see any phone numbers here, or want to find different contact information, click on the link above.

Make at least one call, and if you don’t get through, it’s probably because we’re jamming the phone-lines and it’s working -- so just keep trying throughout the day, or switch to another number!

We suggest you say you’re calling as part of an international action called the Global Wake-Up call, asking 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 at this link and post a short update on how it went in the live-blog on the [right] of the page -- you can also check out other people’s experiences there, and see photos and video from the wake-up call events as they are posted:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/sept21_hub/

If you’d like to join a wake-up call event or flashmob in a public place near you, there may still be time -- click the link above and then click on the global map to find events wherever we are.

In recent weeks, we've stunned 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 just 78 days 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.

Let's send them a wake up call they won't forget. Use your phone now, and let’s share our worldwide experiences of this day on the hub page:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/sept21_hub/

With hope and determination,

Brett, Paul, Iain, Graziela, Ricken, Alice, Ben, Paula, Pascal, Luis, Benji, and the rest of the Avaaz team

PS - an amazing diversity of wake up call events are happening on Monday, from a drumming circle in Guatemala to a coastal ceremony in French Polynesia to a march in Kinshasa. But one exciting global event is the premiere of the new climate change film The Age of Stupid. Images and videos from the Global Wake-Up Call events will be combined, in a matter of hours, into a short movie to be shown in 700 satellite-linked cinemas at the Age of Stupid's global premiere. The screenings are one night only, September 21 in the US and Sept 22 in over 40 other countries. You can find screenings near you along with all our global wake up call events. For more information about the Age of Stupid movie (and to buy tickets), see: http://www.ageofstupid.net

Reference

The New York Times reports that climate talks are "badly stalled", with a breakthrough needed this week at the UN heads of state summit: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/science/earth/20nations.html?hp

ABOUT AVAAZ Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Buenos Aires, and Geneva. Click here to learn more about our largest campaigns. Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Myspace and Bebo pages! You can also follow Avaaz on Twitter!


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