Archbishop Desmond Tutu led a "vigil for survival" Saturday at the COP15 Copenhagen climate talks, highlighting the necessity for world leaders to reach a fair, ambitious and binding treaty to protect the world’s poor from climate change and propagate a clean energy future.
People all over the planet made clear once again this weekend that ‘The World Wants a Real Deal.’ The vigil featuring Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu took place inside the Bella Center, site of the climate negotiations, and was one of over 3,000 vigils, marches and rallies happening worldwide over the weekend of December 11-13.
The vigils conveyed an awe-inspiring sense of peace, hope, and commitment to reach a strong global agreement in order to safeguard future generations against the climate crisis.
Ben Margolis, TckTckTck campaigns director, described the vigil with Bishop Tutu as “an extremely powerful event bringing together high profile leaders from around the world - fresh young figures and wise older figures. It truly showcased the breadth and power of this diverse movement of change agents who demand a fair and ambitious deal from these talks.”
Archbishop Tutu said, "They marched in Berlin and the wall fell. We marched in Cape Town and apartheid fell. We marched in Copenhagen and we are going to get a real deal!"
“Cimate change is already a real crisis today but we can do something about it. If we don’t? Ayeeee…Uh oh!” Tutu said, drawing applause (and nervous laughter) from the audience.
Archbishop Tutu led the audience in chanting “We the world expect a Real Deal,” to huge applause. With just five days remaining in the COP15 negotiations, world leaders must use every moment available to deliver a fair, ambitious and binding treaty.
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