Activists launched what they called the world’s biggest campaign to combat global warming on Friday, urging governments to agree a tough UN climate pact at talks in Copenhagen starting in 100 days’ time.
Environmental organizations, trade unions, religious groups, scientists, anti-poverty campaigners and others representing tens of millions of people teamed up to put pressure for curbs on greenhouse gas emissions.
“Time is running out,” said Kumi Naidoo, chair of the Global Campaign for Climate Action “TckTckTck” campaign, meant to refer to the sound of a clock ticking as the UN meeting draws closer and climate change becomes irreversible.
TckTckTck would include actions such as rallies or online advertisements to show, for instance, how people in developing nations are already suffering from global warming and how a shift to green jobs could help recovery from recession.
Friday was exactly 100 days from the Dec. 7 start of the two-week meeting in Denmark due to agree a successor to the UN’s Kyoto Protocol to rein in changes such as more droughts, floods, rising sea levels, spread of disease and heatwaves.
“We are deeply anxious that the negotiations are not where they need to be,” Naidoo said in a telephone interview from South Africa. In a statement, TckTckTck called itself “the biggest ever climate change campaign.”
He urged a “massive push by ordinary men, women and young people in the remaining 100 days.”
Two negotiating sessions remain before Copenhagen, in Bangkok and Barcelona.
He said Friday was the official launch of the campaign, which has already staged some events such as installing a loud ticking noise in a hotel in Bonn where climate negotiators met in June.
Participants include environmental groups Greenpeace and WWF, Christian Aid, Oxfam, the World Conference of Religions for Peace, the Union of Concerned Scientists, an international umbrella group for trade unions, the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF and a group run by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.
“The outlook is looking bleak — but it doesn’t have to be,” Greenpeace wrote in a report on the state of the UN talks.
It said negotiators were deadlocked over whether developed nations would adopt strong 2020 targets and whether they would also provide billions of dollars to help developing nations.
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
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