Global climate wake-up call today

Today more than 2400 Climate Wake-Up Call events are scheduled in 130 countries. The Global Wake-Up Call is a joint effort of the TckTckTck Campaign, named for the "tck"ing of a clock as time runs short.

Groups involved in the campaign include Avaaz, 350.org, Oxfam, Greenpeace and the producers of the film "The Age of Stupid", which will showcase the Wake-Up Call at their global premiere.

Azaaz says, "Everywhere, from Berlin to Buenos Aires, people will gather in peaceful, spontaneous 'flash mobs' in public places to sound the alarms on their mobile phones, flood their governments with phone calls urging climate action, and make a tremendous noise.

"The images, sounds, and videos will be stitched together for presentation to world leaders at the United Nations tomorrow.

"The plans include an amazing diversity of events from a drumming circle in Guatemala to a coastal ceremony in French Polynesia to a march in Kinshasa. A gathering in Ethiopia will beat drums to sound the alarm. Monks will chant prayers. (Check events in your area here.) 

"The press is reporting that global climate talks are in a shambles and the UN summit on Tuesday is the only hope to revive them. This Monday, we're flooding media and government office phone lines worldwide with a wake up call for leaders to act - with phone calls being made from over 2000 rallies, marches, meetings and 'flashmobs' in public places across the planet, and by hundreds of thousands of us from home.

"We have just 78 days left until the final UN meeting in Copenhagen, where we'll succeed or fail to get an historic global treaty to place binding global limits on carbon pollution, stop a climate catastrophe and unleash a new clean and green economy. Our leaders are nowhere near success, they're not even planning on going to Copenhagen."

The aim is to demonstrate to world leaders that a huge and growing global movement will accept nothing less than a fair, ambitious and binding (FAB) climate treaty strong enough to avert catastrophic climate change.

Part of the global event is the premiere of the new climate change film, "The Age of Stupid." Images and videos from the Global Wake-Up Call events will be combined into a short movie to be shown in 700 satellite-linked cinemas at the "Age of Stupid's" global premiere. on September 21 in the US and Sept 22 in over 40 other countries.

According to Avaaz, in recent weeks, national governments, heads of state and political parties have been "stunned with sudden barrages of thousands of calls. These phone calls tie up staff and shut down phone lines - but they are never missed, and time after time, we're finding, they work.

"14,000 calls reversed the Brazilian President's position on a new climate protection law, 3,000 calls persuaded the German Chancellor's party to engage with climate groups, just a few hundred calls got the attention of top advisors to French President Sarkozy."