Towards climate action in Copenhagen 2009

First inter­na­tion­al plan­ning meet­ing

We invite you to join the 1st inter­na­tion­al plan­ning meet­ing in Copen­hagen from the 13–14th of Sep­tem­ber 2008. The meet­ing aims at prepar­ing a large mobil­i­sa­tion for direct action against the root caus­es of cli­mate change in Copen­hagen and through­out the world dur­ing the UN Cli­mate Con­fer­ence (30 Nov-11 Dec 2009).

First inter­na­tion­al plan­ning meet­ing

We invite you to join the 1st inter­na­tion­al plan­ning meet­ing in Copen­hagen from the 13–14th of Sep­tem­ber 2008. The meet­ing aims at prepar­ing a large mobil­i­sa­tion for direct action against the root caus­es of cli­mate change in Copen­hagen and through­out the world dur­ing the UN Cli­mate Con­fer­ence (30 Nov-11 Dec 2009).

We stand at a cross­roads in his­to­ry. The facts are unde­ni­able. Glob­al cli­mate change, caused by human activ­i­ties, is hap­pen­ing. We all know that, world over, we’re fac­ing a man­i­fold and deep­en­ing cri­sis: of the cli­mate, ener­gy, food, liveli­hoods, and of polit­i­cal and human rights. Sci­en­tif­ic, envi­ron­men­tal, social and civ­il soci­ety move­ments from all over the world are call­ing for action against cli­mate change.

Mas­sive con­sump­tion of fos­sil fuel is one of the major caus­es of glob­al warm­ing, a prob­lem that threat­ens the lives of hun­dreds of mil­lions of peo­ple around the world. Instead of lead­ing the way, gov­ern­ments are pri­or­i­tiz­ing eco­nom­ic growth and cor­po­rate inter­ests while ignor­ing the speed­ing train of cli­mate change hurtling towards the abyss. The cor­po­rate exploita­tion of the plan­et’s resources can­not be allowed to con­tin­ue any longer. We have pre­cious lit­tle time to react to this threat. We need action NOW to stop cli­mate change, and if the so-called ‘lead­ers’ won’t lead the way, we must.

On the 30th Novem­ber 2009, world lead­ers will come to Copen­hagen for the UN Cli­mate Con­fer­ence (COP15). This will be the most impor­tant sum­mit on cli­mate change ever to have tak­en place, and it will deter­mine how the coun­tries of the world are going to respond to the cli­mate threat. The deci­sions tak­en there will define the future for all the peo­ple of the world. The pre­vi­ous meet­ings give no indi­ca­tion that this meet­ing will pro­duce any­thing more than emp­ty rhetoric and a green washed blue­print for busi­ness-as-usu­al.

There is an alter­na­tive to the cur­rent course and it’s not some far-off dream. If we put rea­son before prof­it, we can live amaz­ing lives with­out destroy­ing our plan­et. But this will not hap­pen by itself. We have to take direct action, both against the root caus­es of cli­mate change and to help cre­ate a new, just and joy­ous world in the shell of the old. And so, we call on all respon­si­ble peo­ple of the plan­et to take direct action against the root caus­es of cli­mate change dur­ing the COP15 sum­mit in Copen­hagen 2009.

The exact plans for our mobi­liza­tion are not yet final­ized. We have time to col­lec­tive­ly decide what our best course of action may be. We encour­age every­one to start mobi­liz­ing in your own coun­tries. It is time to take the pow­er back from the lead­ers not respon­si­ble enough to hold it. The pow­er is in our hands!

Prac­ti­cal infor­ma­tion

The meet­ing is free for every­one, accom­mo­da­tion and food will be pro­vid­ed by local activists. Note also that the meet­ing will be held the week­end pri­or to the Euro­pean Social Forum (ESF) in Malmö, Sep­tem­ber 17–21. Peo­ple are wel­come to stay in Copen­hagen in the inter­me­di­ate days.

Please announce your arrival to sept08@klimax2009.org. We’re hap­py to respond to any ques­tions you might have. You can also sub­scribe to the inter­na­tion­al mobi­liza­tion mail­ing list.

Please cir­cu­late, trans­late and dis­trib­ute this call wide­ly.

Cli­mate Net­work 09, klimax2009.org