How can I get involved in the next 'Global Day of Action' on climate change, December 12th 2009?

Just click the appropriate country from the list on the left and find out what's going on in your country already. Use the contacts, and/or national website, to find out more and get involved. The organisations involved will only be too glad to get your support, and your interest will encourage them to do more for the 'Global Day of Action'. The details of some coalitions on climate change that have been formed in various countries are given below.

What if nothing is being organised in my country or region?

Organise your own Action or Demonstration for the December 12th 'Global Day of Action'.
Then just tell us so that we can put the details on the website. Go to the 'Sign-up' page or email us at info[at]globalclimatecampaign.org. Make sure to include a contact so that then other people who are interested in joining in can contact you. Once the details are on the website then your action can help to encourage other people all around the world to join in the 'Global Day of Action'.

Materials
To  download a Global Climate Campaign leaflet (as jpeg) for the International Demonstrations on climate change, December 12th 2009 in colour  click here., in black and white click here

For the leaflet with a space to put local details in colour click here, in black and white click here.

For the leaflet in Portugese - in colour click here, in black and white click here.

For a reverse side to the leaflet with information about climate change in colour click here and in black and white click here.

For a Global Day of Action 2009 poster click here.  For the poster in French click here.

To download the Global Logo 2009 in various formats  see  here.

To download a circular email to promote the Global Day of Action in English click here, in Spanish click here.

You may find our guide to organising a demonstration useful: for the English version click here, for the Spanish version click here.

What kind of action or demonstration?
Needless to say the bigger the better, but even the smallest of symbolic actions are still worthwhile.

There have been many different forms of climate action that have taken place all around the world on previous years' Global Days of Action (in 2005, 2006 and 2007) You can click the country buttons on the left to find out what happened in each country last year, but here are some examples:

Germany 2007
Over 10,000 took part on December 8th with around 5,000 at a demonstration in Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate, about the same number at a new coal-fired power plant at Neurath near Dusseldorf, and also some smaller actions around the country. These were all organised by a big new climate coalition in Germany: the "Klima-Allianz".

Australia 2006
Over 90,000 people took part in the "Walk against Warming " demonstrations that were part of the Global Day of Action against Climate Change on  4th of November 2006. There were demonstrations in more than 20 places around Australia, up to 40,000 strong in the biggest cities, all organised by a broad coalition of organisations and coordinated by a central national website. In 2007 there was an even more successful repeat of this event - but about a month before the Global Day of Action so as to be able to influence the November Federal election - very effectively in the event, in favour of the pro-Kyoto candidate.

Greece 2007
In Greece there was a demonstration of several thousand in Athens and other protests in Thessaloniki, Giannena, Heraklion, Chania, Rethymno, Giannitsa, Volos and Larissa. In reaction to the summer's devestating fires local activists, environmentalists, socialists, greens, leftists and NGOs organized meetings, assemblies and campaigns connecting a variety of environmental issues, to build for the demonstrations.

Lebanon 2007
Indyact (the "League of Independent Activists") organised a "Walkathon" with two thousand taking part despite some very tense political conditions. This was after some weeks of awareness raising, marking the post-climate-change sea level on buildings etc.. There was lots of media attention.

Portugal 2007
Here 'Os Verdes', the Portugese Green party organised an event in downtown Lisbon that connected climate change with local transport issues.  40 Os Verdes members gained the support of hundreds of members of the public for public transport improvements, as part of a long-running campaign.

Bermuda 2006
At the last moment six young enthusiasts made some placards and stood outside the US consulate to demand that the USA ratify Kyoto. They took photos of the action and got it covered in a local newspaper!

How to organise an action or demonstration
As you see from the above you can do an action with just a few friends or alternatively just your organisation acting alone. It's never too late to get something organised. Make sure you take some photos and we will publicise them on the global website. But try and get into your local media too!

Better than acting with just a few, or with a single organisation doing all the work, though, is to get others involved. Try holding a meeting to organise for the 'Global Day of Action' and invite other people and organisations. You might be able to set up some kind of 'Organising Committee' for the Day of Action or a coalition of groups to organise perhaps not only for the Global Day of Action but also other climate-campaigning activities.

Coalitions on climate change have already been formed in various countries. Here are some examples below. Some of these are 'national' in scope, others just bring together a proportion of the organisations with an interest in campaigning on climate, within the country concerned. All of them demonstrate how people are coming together to fight against this greatest of threats to humanity.

Examples of Coalitions or Initiatives on Climate Change:

Australia          Climate Movement                  www.climatemovement.org.au
Belgium           Klimaatcoalitie                         www.klimaatcoalitie.be
Canada           Climate Chaos Coalition       www.actfortheearth.org/climatechaos
Germany          Klima-Allianz                            www.die-klima-allianz.de
Netherlands    HIER-Campaign                     www.hier.nu
New Zealand  Climate Defence Network     www.climatedefence.org.nz
Spain                Movimiento Clima                   www.coalicionclima.org
UK                     Stop Climate Chaos               www.stopclimatechaos.org
                          Campaign against Climate Change  www.campaigncc.org
                          (member of SCC that organises mass demonstrations)
US                     Climate Crisis Coalition        www.climatecrisiscoalition.org
                           Step it up                                  http://stepitup2007.org/

Finally, remember that the goal for the Global Day of Action is to mobilise as many people around the world as possible to put pressure on world leaders to take the necessary internationally coordinated action for an effective and equitable emissions reductions treaty - the only feasible way to prevent catastrophic climate change.