News

Tuesday, 8 December 2009

---The Wave - by Brian Shreeve

They came from Bradford, they came from Abergavenny, they came from Norwich and from many other places besides. About 30,000 of them, according to The Sunday Times. The reason? To support "The Wave", the name of a demonstration organised by the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, which took place in London on 5th December. It was timed to take place ahead of crucial talks at the UN summit meeting on climate change in Copenhagen, aimed at forging a new deal to replace the Kyoto protocol - the current agreement on climate change which expires in 2012. The Coalition consists of more than 100 organisations representing over 11 million people. It includes the RSPB (which was a founder member), WWF, Greenpeace, Christian Aid, UNICEF, Oxfam, the Woodland Trust and other environmental and faith groups.

I had never been on a protest march before, but I joined this one because I would like to think that my children and their children in turn will be able to appreciate the beauties of nature much as I have done. I feel that we need action - global action - now to reduce carbon emissions fast and ensure that the magnificent wildlife to be found on this planet is preserved for future generations to enjoy. For sceptics of human involvement in climate change, the case is impressive. The latest (Fourth) Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures over the last 50 years or so is very likely due to the observed increase in human greenhouse gas concentrations. We need to ensure that solutions are found to cope with this very serious problem.

We marched from Grosvenor Square to the Houses of Parliament; old and young, seasoned campaigners and new ones like me, in true carnival style; with banners, whistles, placards, bang-bang sticks, and big cardboard hands. To give a sense of unity, we were asked to wear something blue - and for anyone who forgot, there were face painters on hand to do the necessary. "Act fair, Act fast" was the RSPB exhortation, and other banners bore similar themes: "Quit dirty coal"; "End agrofuel use"; "I vote to stop climate chaos"; "Coal kills"; "Carbon cuts not welfare cuts"; and "Green jobs won't cost the earth", were a few of them. Watched by the eye in the sky, we ended up at Big Ben a little later than the promised time of 3pm, where we all waved our big blue hands and anything else we could find and blew our whistles and banged our bang-bang sticks to give the politicians a wake-up call. By then, however, it was beginning to rain and the light was failing. But for the marchers, including me, it had been a good day for a very worthwhile cause.


Brian Shreeve