Build the boat!
July 20, 2001 – “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead, Anthropologist
Friends of the Earth International will stage the largest action of the talks tomorrow, Saturday July 21st, when thousands of people from more than 25 countries will build a giant 30 metre long, 5 metre high Lifeboat as a symbol of the urgent need for action on climate change, starting with ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Activists will build the Boat with wooden planks. The planks will be inscribed with colourful messages to the negotiators that the demonstrators have brought to Bonn. The Lifeboat will remain in place for the remainder of the COP talks.
09:30 – 10:00 Opening Speeches, Munsterplatz (5 metre press tower for photos)
10:00 – 11:45 Lifeboat construction, Munsterplatz
11:45 – 13:45 Lifeboat procession through Bonn
13:45 – 14:30 Lifeboat monument installation and closing speeches, Robert Schumann Platz (close
to the Maritim Hotel)
Kate Hampton, Friends of the Earth Climate Campaigner said: “Governments wrangle over loopholes and get-out clauses, trying to ‘cut the cost’ of implementing Kyoto. The politicians and officials in these talks must listen to the thousands of concerned citizens who have come to Bonn for the Lifeboat action. They are speaking for the millions of people around the world crying out for action to avert the catastrophic consequences of climate change.”
Contact:
Ian Willmore 0174 160 4808 or 00 44 7887 641 344
Howard Mollett 00 41 792 160 206
Daniel Mittler (Lifeboat) 0173 923 4747
