This post will soon be cross-posted on Green.tv.
Upon entering the 8th Avenue side of Central Park, small, unpretentious yellow leaflets pointed me alongside busy crowds of tourists and New Yorkers, underneath a small bridge and looking onto the Trump Ice Rink. There, nearly 1000 participants—young and elderly—came together to create several large-scale human sculptures under the watchful eye of world famous choreographer Christopher Caines.
The weather was beautiful; the sun shone brightly and winds softly rustled against the lush, Central Park greenery. Excited New Yorkers looked onto Christopher organizing the large group into several formations, much of which appeared to be an hourglass from the ground. When watching the YouTube video, one can see the group shaped as earth trapped inside an hourglass as the earth dissolved like sand.
Why? The consortium of over 75 civil society organizations (including World Wildlife Fund, Oxfam, Greenpeace, 350.org, US Climate Action Network, Avaaz, 1Sky, Sustain US and Energy Action Coalition, among others) aimed to send a strong public message to leaders meeting at the UN Climate Summit on 22 September.
There has been much contention among environmentalists as to whether international meetings and their advocates really make a difference in creating deep change to reduce emissions. For Oxfam, two things are essential for developments on climate change: firstly, rich countries should reduce their carbon emissions by 40 percent (below 1990 levels) by 2020; secondly, $150B earmarks per year to help poor countries to reduce their carbon emissions ($100B) and adapt to climate change ($50B).
Indeed, high polluters and low-income countries have aggressively avoided climate legislation and further, even sticking to climate targets has proved difficult for outspoken UK, which promised 40% carbon emissions reductions. Let’s not forget though—without international legislation, Europe could not have developed so quickly after World War II. Global climate legislation (especially via Copenhagen) encourages transparent political and economic development. Public opinion—visible through offline and online voices.
What other than protest and public outcries for change will change government opinion? Why should you support Global Climate Week? @TckTckTck, @Hopenhagen @TenTenUK @ClimateCamp @0co2caravan, @AgeofStupid, @ClimateAction and numerous other local and regional campaigns (PLEASE recommend great green campaigns making a difference) are making great strides to reach out about climate change awareness. Play your part! Use this chance to chat with non-green friends about the implications of climate change, make change in your own life and let it rub off.
Social media advocate? Put the @TckTckTck Twibbon on your Twitter avatar! You can also see the video streaming live via livestream.com/climatevoice, soon it’ll be streamed on tcktcktck.org.
