SYDNEY
11am Sydney Town Hall
walk to Hyde Park North
MELBOURNE
12pm Albert Park Lake
Grebe Picnic Area
St Kilda End, Aughtie Drive
Car free event!
BRISBANE
Umbrella Parade
1pm King George Square
walk to Musgrave Park
ADELAIDE
11am Rundle Park
east end of Rundle St
CANBERRA
11am Garema Place
PERTH
11am Leighton Beach
recycled kite competition
ARMIDALE
11am Armidale Mall
COONABARABRAN
9am Outside Post Office
NAMBUCCA HEADS
9:30am V Wall
WHY WALK?
The need to reduce greenhouse gases is at crisis point.
We must act now for the sustainability of our planet for future generations.
Walk Against Warming is being organised around an International Day of Climate Change Action with walks taking place in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and Cairns. Other events around NSW are currently being planned from Coonabarabran to Parramatta.
Walk Against Warming is the first attempt of its kind aimed at providing the general public with an opportunity to take to the streets on the critical issue of climate change. This particular event will enable people to add their voice to the call for the Federal Government to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.
From the 28th of November to the 9th December 2005 the first meeting of the 154 signatories to the Kyoto Protocol will take place. The international community is organising events on the day which will focus on the US and Australia's refusal to ratify Kyoto. Lets support the call for international action on climate change, timed to coincide with these Climate Talks in Montreal. These demonstrations will demand that Australia and the USA ratify the Kyoto Protocol immediately, and that the entire world community move as rapidly as possible to a stronger emissions reductions treaty that will be both equitable and effective in stabilising 'greenhouse' gases and preventing dangerous climate change.
Help create a global wave of protest to press for the urgent action we need to prevent the catastrophic destabilisation of our global climate! For information on International activities visit: www.globalclimatecampaign.org
Time to make climate change a public issue
Stephanie Long, Friends of the Earth, Brisbane
Climate change is no longer just a theory about the consequences of 150 years of industrial pollution. It is widely declared the most serious environmental issue facing the world.
2005 is rumoured to become the hottest year on record, with a spate of natural disasters some of which arguably have been exacerbated by climate change. There have been 23 tropical storms with 13 hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin making it the most active hurricane season on record. Warmer ocean temperatures have been cited as creating this intense hurricane season in the Atlantic region. Pacific meterologists are now concerned about the impending cyclone season.
Australia's own Environment Minister, Senator Ian Campbell recently commented to the Australian that "I think the Australian Government owes it to the public to tell it like it is - it [climate change] is a very serious threat to Australia." Despite the bravado on the seriousness of climate change and the need to invest in all solutions, the Australian government remains woefully behind international standards on energy efficiency and mandatory renewable energy uptake and has, of yet, failed to including assessment of greenhouse gas emissions or climate change in the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
Even more concerning is the recent position of the Australian government that Kyoto negoitations on the post 2012 regime are a 'waste of time'. Australia remains one of the two industralised nations who refuse to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, the other being the United States of America. The critique of the Kyoto Protocol by the USA and Australia has been doggedly relentless, with both nations instigating bullying and blocking tactics throughout the negotiation process.
So we are at what seems to be a political impasse. The acceptance of climate change science and the increasing evidence that the natural world is reacting to human induced climate change should reasonbly translate to the motivation to regulate emissions or mandate transition to renewable energy and energy efficiency. However, concern about hampering economic growth and future industrial expansion, has stymied any development of constructive or creative solutions.
This is not an experience particular to Australia. A global movement of activists and concerned citizens are organising themselves to participate in the International Day of Action on Climate Change, December 3 2005. This date has been chosen as it co-incides with the first Meeting of the Parties of the Kyoto Protocol in Montreal, Canada. This international day of action was endorsed by the Assembly of Movements of the World Social Forum in January 2005 in recognition of the urgent need for serious movement building around climate change as a means of reclaiming democracy on the issue. Millions of people around the world continue to feel misrepresented by their political leaders' responses to climate change. From Bulgaria to London communites are supporting the 'Call to Action', demanding that the USA and Australia ratify the Kyoto Protocol immediately. The second call is that the entire world community move as rapidly as possible to a stronger emissions reductions treaty that will be both equitable and effective in stabilising 'greenhouse' gases and preventing dangerous climate change.
There need for planning, leadership and creative strategies to deal with climate change, as there is a crucial need for planning and leadership around community protest and creative strategies needed to build a movement around climate change. The current political context means that we need to get publicly active and demand the government take the necessary steps to avert dangerous climate change. We need to create a groundswell of global opinion to push for the urgent and radical action, without which we risk a global catastrophe of unimaginable proportions. We believe that the meeting in Montreal represent the best opportunity for coordinated international action on climate change and to demonstrate to the international community that Australians do not all share the position of their government.
What have we done so far?
Support has been building steadily with a huge cross section of organisations already advertising the day on their websites.
An urgency motion has been passed at some Councils directing them to erect banners and posters advertising the event and promote it in their local media as well as addressing the issue of climate change generally. The motion has been sent to other Councils asking them to do similar.
Conservation Councils around the country as well as other environmental organisations and individuals are getting support from member groups, unions, councils, friends and family to advertise the event in their newsletters and on their websites and email lists where appropriate.
http://www.walkagainstwarming.org/index.htm
tho itd be cool if it was!
