Joburg joins People’s Climate Mobilisation

I don’t know if you have seen in the press, but scientists are calling it our worst moment in climate change history, the delicate balance of the planet’s biosphere is tipping - threatening life as we know it on earth.

An emergency UN Summit in New York is being called, on the 23rd of September 2014, with every president and prime minister of the world due to be present. The only way to prevent disaster is for our leaders to shift to 100% clean energy by 2050.

For decades, international efforts to fight climate change have run into roadblocks. This UN summit needs to be different. Avaaz, the organisation we are volunteering for, is calling this the “most important petition we’ve ever done”.

Avaaz has called out to it’s 38 million members worldwide to mobilse, along with hundreds of other organisations.

The responsibility is ours. No movement for massive social change has ever won without being present in massive numbers at key moments in history.

HOW DO I TAKE PART IF I LIVE IN JOZI?

Join us for a symbolic gathering to support the official “People’s Climate March”, we will be making a mass heart formation and having a picnic at the same time as thousands take to the streets in New York and around the world. Photos of our formation will be displayed at the UN Summit by Avaaz and will also be sent to local media.

• Date: Sunday, 21 September, 2014
• Time: Picnic from 13h00, formation at approximately 14h30
• Dress: White shirt, if possible
• Bring: Your own picnic goods, including food, drinks, umbrella for shade and picnic blankets
• Where: Emmarentia Dam (use the north / main entrance on Olifants Road), follow the green arrows to the picnic spot

“TURN YOUR HEART GREEN” ONLINE CAMPAIGN”:

If you can’t make it on Sunday, SAVE what you love and take part in our online campaign, or you can do both!

SNAP your heart pic as an individual or as a group with your family / colleagues / school friends - be creative! Think about things that you cherish on this planet; your children, the forest you walk in, the ocean you swim in. Pose there, draw hearts - defend what you love.

SEND it to our “Turn Your Heart Green” Facebook page and challenge others to do the same. We will be sending a montage of these images from South Africa to the Avaaz headquarters. They will be displaying them at the UN Summit. Use #greenheartSA when posting pics on Instagram and Twitter too.

SIGN the Avaaz International Petition and the 350.org South African Petition on our Facebook page (at the bottom of the “About” section”, which has 2 simple demands:

Hold rich countries of the Global North accountable for starting climate change. Make sure they pay their fair share to help people in our countries adapt to climate change. Choose clean solar and wind power over dirty fossil fuels.

Participating in a record setting mobilisation is one of the most effective ways to create change - from the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa to civil rights in the US, this is how the individual can make a difference. This is our chance to rescue the planet from further environmental degradation and climate change and to ensure the survival and future for our families and generations to come.

Check out this inspiring trailer of a film called Disruption which is due to be released in a few days. It’s incredibly motivating and reminds us that what we are doing together and the events we are organising in different parts of the world are part of a historic global moment of action.

Let’s make this the biggest mass action in history – we can do this!

Avaaz Johannesburg, South Africa