2.08.2007
Climate Campaign Issues 'Wake-up Call' to World Leaders (Independent.co.uk)
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
Published: 07 February 2007
George Bush, Vladimir Putin and Jacques Chirac are in bed, fast asleep. All around them the evidence of climate change is clear and pressing but nothing can rouse the world leaders from their slumber.
"Global warming is here, but our leaders just won't wake up," says a voice. "Now you can sound the alarm. Go to avaaz.org to send your leader a wake-up call."
These adverts, broadcast this week in Paris, Berlin, Washington and Delhi, represent the opening salvo of a new movement of online activists that already claims to have almost 900,000 members in 198 countries.
Their rather modest aim is to change the world by forming a grassroots organisation with a global reach that can campaign on issues ranging from climate change to Aids in Africa.
"We have been inspired by watching those moments of global consciousness such as the aftermath of 9/11 and the run-up to the Iraq war," said Ricken Patel, one of the founders of Avaaz, which means "voice" in several Asian languages. "We are trying to build that sort of infrastructure online and to reduce the gap between the world people want and the world we have."
The adverts - timed to coincide with meetings being held in Germany to set the agenda for this summer's G8 meeting in Heiligendamm - are the start of an effort to build the sort of global activism that could genuinely wield influence
The organisers believe that email and letter writing campaigns on a global scale can push governments to act and that its activists can exchange information through the internet and by other instant means such as text messaging.
"Climate change is a pretty classic example of a global problem that requires a global solution," said David Madden, another of Avaaz's founders and an activist previously involved in the Australian group GetUp.org.au.
(More ... The Independent > Environment News)
Published: 07 February 2007
George Bush, Vladimir Putin and Jacques Chirac are in bed, fast asleep. All around them the evidence of climate change is clear and pressing but nothing can rouse the world leaders from their slumber.
"Global warming is here, but our leaders just won't wake up," says a voice. "Now you can sound the alarm. Go to avaaz.org to send your leader a wake-up call."
These adverts, broadcast this week in Paris, Berlin, Washington and Delhi, represent the opening salvo of a new movement of online activists that already claims to have almost 900,000 members in 198 countries.
Their rather modest aim is to change the world by forming a grassroots organisation with a global reach that can campaign on issues ranging from climate change to Aids in Africa.
"We have been inspired by watching those moments of global consciousness such as the aftermath of 9/11 and the run-up to the Iraq war," said Ricken Patel, one of the founders of Avaaz, which means "voice" in several Asian languages. "We are trying to build that sort of infrastructure online and to reduce the gap between the world people want and the world we have."
The adverts - timed to coincide with meetings being held in Germany to set the agenda for this summer's G8 meeting in Heiligendamm - are the start of an effort to build the sort of global activism that could genuinely wield influence
The organisers believe that email and letter writing campaigns on a global scale can push governments to act and that its activists can exchange information through the internet and by other instant means such as text messaging.
"Climate change is a pretty classic example of a global problem that requires a global solution," said David Madden, another of Avaaz's founders and an activist previously involved in the Australian group GetUp.org.au.
(More ... The Independent > Environment News)
Labels: Climate Change, Independent
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