Groggy delegates and observers arriving today in Barcelona for the final round of negotiations prior to Copenhagen were welcomed by TckTckTck’s cacophony of 1,000 ringing alarm clocks piercing the morning air in front of the Fira Gran Via conference hall.
The chattering alarm clocks served as a literal “wake up call” to the climate negotiators, many of whom veered off the path to the front door to snap pictures and watch the action as TckTckTck and 350.org activists posed for the media cameras. Barcelona is the last chance for negotiators to find consensus on critical elements necessary to forge a legally binding international agreement in Copenhagen.
“We stand here today united to tell our leaders that time is running out to agree on a fair, ambitious and binding climate deal,” TckTckTck Campaign Director Ben Margolis told the assembled crowd.
“Real money must be put on the table now by rich nations to ensure that the people in the poorest countries who are suffering the most from climate change and who are the least responsible [for the problem] are able to adapt to this growing crisis,” said Margolis.
“Delay is not an option, delay kills,” he said.
At the top of this post, watch our campaigns manager Ben Margolis and the TckTckTck activists today in Barcelona (with the ringing alarm clocks audible in the background).
Perhaps in a nod to the TckTckTck campaign, U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer said in his opening remarks at the conference that “the clock has almost ticked down to zero.” The few moments left to reach agreement on major areas of contention prior to Copenhagen “need to be used wisely,” he said.
Stay tuned for more news from Barcelona as the week progresses.
Comments
02 November 09 | The NLA
Clocks
This looks like a great way to stage the urgency we're facing. Well done ! Now, why don't you put these alarm clocks by the hotel room doors of all the negotiators?
03 November 09 | Anonymous
Clocks
What did they do with all the clocks afterwards? Hopefully recycled them.
03 November 09 | dunk
today at BCN talks - Africa boycott U.N. climate talks, demands
Africa boycott U.N. climate talks, demands CO2 cuts
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE5A11Q720091103
African nations boycotted U.N. climate talks on Tuesday in a protest to urge rich countries to set deeper 2020 cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
Meetings about extending the U.N.'s carbon-cutting Kyoto Protocol, one of two tracks for a new global climate deal due to be agreed in Copenhagen next month, were all canceled by the protests at the November 2-6 conference in Barcelona.
"Africa believes that the other groups are not taking talks seriously enough, not urgently enough," said Kabeya Tshikuku, of the Democratic Republic of Congo delegation....
04 November 09 | Reed Aronow (COP 15 Youth Delegate)
Wake up negotiatiors!
This is an excellent idea; keep up the good work and keep being creative!