Friends of the Earth goes global
with ‘Save the Climate Treaty’ Action
Day !
Today, as politicians from around
the world meet in The Netherlands to
prepare for the climate change
negotiations in November, Friends of
the Earth groups are making a
world-wide Action Day to emphasize that
this is the last chance to prevent a
global climate catastrophe.
Friends of the Earth groups all over
the planet, from Paraguay to Scotland,
participate in today’s international
‘Save The Climate Treaty’ Action
Day.
Friends of the Earth Italy have made a
Scuba-Diver-Parade in Venice, the
beautiful city which rising sea levels
could send underwater. In Piazza San
Marco, a Amici della Terra (FoE Italy)
in flippers & goggles have
demonstrated through the main square
with banners indicating that this could
well be the required attire for
tourists in Venice within a few
decades.
Friends of the Earth Netherlands
made an action outside the current
meeting Activists kidnapped the famous
statue of Hans Brinker, the child who
saved Holland from flooding by putting
his finger into a dike. The figure of
Hans Brinker was recruited to help
flood the conference with a water
cannon as a stunt to draw attention to
what is actually an increasingly
serious issue – the unwillingness of
our governments to face up to global
warming and take effective action.
Whilst our Austrian Friends of the
Earth group flooded their Environment
Minister with sloganed ballons, groups
in Australia paraded down high-streets
in silver sun-proof moon suits handing
out information materials to
passers-by.
Presently, the outlook for The Hague
UN climate change meetings is bad –
recent meetings in Lyon failed to make
any progress. The Dutch Minister for
Environment and Chair of the UN
meetings admitted himself that ‘nothing
had been achieved in Lyon’.
Friends of the Earth has published a
new briefing, available on-line
http://www.foeeurope.org/dike/extreme.htm
, detailing extreme weather events
which have occurred just in the last
three months. The human, environmental
and economic cost of these disasters
testifies to the urgency which makes
the discussions so important.
Dr. Martin Rocholl from Friends of
the Earth Brussels: "This Action Day is
essentially citizens from around the
globe asking their Governments to
ensure that the Kyoto Protocol results
in real emissions reductions through
the development of renewable energy and
energy efficiency measures taken at
home. The current efforts to include
nuclear power and a lax definition of
sinks is unacceptable. The Treaty is
being weakened by loopholes and get-out
clauses. The EU must present a coherent
and progressive position – this is
currently not the case. Governments
have got to wake up. "
Friends of the Earth, the world’s
largest environmental grass-roots
network with member groups in 65
countries, will also be at The Hague.
Our climate change experts will be in
the conference talking to delegates and
on November 18th we will build a huge
dike around the conference centre with
thousands of volunteers as a symbolic
action.
Tell your friends about the Dike
Action ! And bring a bus-load !!!
DIKE ACTION Saturday November
18th - Free Accommodation, sandbags and
party !!!
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