I have a confession to make - when I first heard that I would be campaigning on climate issues I was apprehensive, not because I don’t believe it is important, but because it is so important - yet so difficult to communicate in any way that doesn’t end up scaring off the very people we want to inspire to take action.
To really tackle climate change we need to turn the tables, take heart and have hope. That’s what the Climate Coalition’s ‘For the love of...’ campaign does so brilliantly. It encourages us to take positive action on behalf of the things we love in the world around us that we simply couldn’t stand to lose. It’s time to work towards a vision of the world we want for our children, grandchildren, future generations and all the other things we love.
What do we need to do this? Well, support and strong leadership from our elected representatives would be a good place to start. This week, world leaders (hopefully including David Cameron) will be meeting at a climate change summit in New York. The aim is to get the ball rolling in advance of an important conference in Paris towards the end of 2015 at which, it is hoped, we will finally get the global deal on tackling climate change the world so desperately needs.
Yesterday, to mark the occasion, hundreds of thousands of people across the world took to the streets as part of a Global Day of Action to show leaders how important these talks are to all of us. The largest climate march ever took place in New York, with over 300,000 people marching - including UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon, Leonardo Di Caprio, Al Gore and even the Incredible Hulk - Mark Ruffalo!
Here in London we were joined by Emma Thompson, Peter Gabriel, Vivienne Westwood and the Bishop of London, alongside tens of thousands of people from all walks of life and all generations. The Climate Coalition was there and so was I, amidst a sea of 'For the love of' placards, with a hope for a future that we no longer need to be afraid of. It felt like a carnival, a celebration and the reinvigoration of a climate movement that had lost heart for a while.
To change everything, we need everyone - and for me, yesterday was a fantastic start.
Kim, we did have a great day. We also saw placards from Cafod, WWF, Oxfam and Christian Aid! The 'for the love of..' placards were great, a small boy carried one ..of football!!
I was just sorry not to have met up with many of our RSPB friends who were so evident in 2009.
The Coalition have produced this fabulous film and storify to show how brilliant the day went:
www.youtube.com/watch
storify.com/.../london-climate-march-21-september-2014
Huge thanks to everyone who came and took part, what a global moment it was! Let's hope the Leaders' talks taking place today in New York lead us to strong commitments at the Paris conference next year.
So glad you were there, hope you had as fabulous a day as I did.
The reason there wasn't a sea of RSPB balloons and placards is the same reason why there were no Christian Aid, Cafod, WWF and Oxfam placards, we were all there to support the Climate Coalition.
It was a Coalition/Avaaz event and we wanted to highlight the strength of the Coalition movement, which we did hugely successfully - there was a cracking sea of 'For the love of' placards highlighting loves from coffee and coral reefs to children and rainforests!
I was at the London march wearing a RSPB hat and jacket, but not a single RSPB Banner, Balloon or Placard to been seen! What a missed opportunity! Remember the Big Wave in Dec. 2009!