By Tan Copsey
‘What do we want’ – ‘an international agreement that recognises concerns of equity and justice, incorporating historical responsibility for emissions, and promoting green growth whilst simultaneously recognising the inevitability of a phased transition from fossil fuels. Massive improvements in energy efficiency, the re-localisation of production, individual action in the form of gradually reducing personal GHG allowances which could then be traded globally, and a global focus on research and development……’.
I stopped my chant as I struggled over the issue of incorporating offsets, also because the very tall hippy with a bright red beard was looking at me funny. ‘What do we want? – climate justice!. When do we want it? – Now!'. Ah well, you can’t attempt to popularise an issue like climate change without losing a little bit of detail in the process...
As you may have guessed, or already read, Saturday was an international day of action on climate change. Events were held in 40 countries, and a minimum of 20 000 showed up in London, marching from the US embassy to a rally in Trafalgar square (see pictures on our flickR Climate Change set here). Besides witnessing a rather bizarre altercation (read full-on fist fight) between two protestors, sadly not about the logistics of incorporating off-sets into a global scheme or the merits of contraction and convergence, I had a rather good day out. I happily went home to turn off as many lights as possible – before tripping down the stairs and cleaning my teeth with soap. I also had great fun listening to the people around me discussing the Stern Report, the upcoming conference in Nairobi, and the possibilities of bringing the US and China on-board as part of a new global agreement. And whilst hippies, socialist workers and unreformed communists (non-industrial revolution here we come?) were there too, so were a lot of grannies, climate geeks like myself, and more than a few Tories.
Our friends on the far side of the world were also involved – despite UK media blaming New Zealand butter for the imminent downfall of civilisation. Here are some pictures:
