tcktcktck — Copenhagen 7 Dec 09 | The World Is Ready

The hopes of ten million people for a fair, ambitious, and binding climate deal in Copenhagen were delivered today by the TckTckTck campaign. Young people from around the world handed over the petition to the UN’s top climate official Yvo de Boer and Danish Climate Minister and President of COP15 Connie Hedegaard, following the leader’s opening press conference on the first day.

The young people held boxes representing the building blocks of a real climate deal and handed over a collection of blocks from the iconic Danish company, Lego, to symbolize the missing element needed for a global deal, public pressure. The petition is the largest climate petition ever delivered and is one of the biggest petitions in history, demonstrating the broad support that a climate deal has from citizens of countries from all over the world.

Although the number of people that had signed the petition is a staggering figure, what really captivated the crowd was the short speech by Leah Wickham, 24, of Fiji, who spoke on the “hopes and dreams” of the ten million people that had signed the petition. Her heartfelt talk silenced the room and brought many close to tears. She said how small island nations like her own are on the frontline of climate change and she pled to the top officials to secure an agreement that would protect her country, her people’s culture and livelihoods, and their very dreams for their children.

Leah said the Copenhagen climate treaty, “represents our hopes and dreams for all the generations that will be…Fifty years from now, my children will be raising their own families and it is my biggest hope that they will still be able to call our islands home.” Tearfully, she told of the struggle her people are facing every day but she said that, “In the end, climate change will not discriminate.” As President Nasheed of the Maldives has said, “If the world can't save the Maldives today, it might be too late to save London, New York or Hong Kong tomorrow.

That is why the more than 220 leading civil society organizations from the environmental, development, labor, and health field have come together as part of the TckTckTck campaign to mobilize people around the world to call for a fair, ambitious, and binding treaty. A treaty that not only will protect vulnerable countries like Leah’s today but also provide a secure tomorrow for all countries and peoples around the world.

The call didn’t go unheard, as Yvo de Boer and Minister Hedegaard responded to the call for civil society and Leah’s powerful speech. Minister Hedegaard said that this petition and support of the 10 million people that the petition represents will be the key to holding politicians to their promises to negotiate a deal in Copenhagen saying “I think you have made the political price for heading home empty-handed so high that no one will be willing to pay this.”

Yvo de Boer responded, “This is not just about UN decisions and treaties, this is about people, culture, and countries’ survival. The talking needs to stop and the action needs to begin.“ He closed with what 10 million people had been hoping to hear, saying “I promise we will deliver on the action.”

Now that the pledge has been delivered, what next? We can promise to deliver the action back home in our communities, by showing the world is ready for a real deal.

Tags: Campaign stories