*** Sent by Avaaz supporter and volunteer Duncan Maru ***

Climate change will certainly be one of the top agenda items at the G8 summit during the first week of July, but the real question is whether the G8 leaders will actually take decisive action to stop global warming. Leaders from each of the G8 countries have frittered away most of the momentum gained in 2007 and continue to avoid the pressing need to make binding, national targets to decrease carbon emissions. All the important innovations and ideas aimed at reducing global warming--from wind energy to fuel efficiency to changes in consumer behavior --can not be effective unless countries make the firm, immediate, political commitment to reduce carbon emissions. This meeting, a prelude to the broader G8 summit next month, marks a critical juncture at which the world's most powerful-- and polluting-- countries can start to take leadership on the issue.

Host country Japan plays a particularly central role here, and there is some reason for optimism. A recent Pew global attitudes poll showed that the 66% of Japanese citizens are concerned "a great deal" about global warming--the highest total among the countries surveyed (the same figure was 19% in the United States and 26% in Britain) [1]. Within the government, the Environment Ministry supports mandatory, national caps on carbon emissions. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, however, opposes these critical policy changes [2]. Japan's Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda, is the key to shaping his administration's ultimate stance on it, and it looks presently as if he is leaning the wrong way -- on the side of the Trade Ministry [3]. Avaaz members need to show Mr. Fukuda that the global community supports the Japanese public and his colleagues in the Environment Ministry in trying to achieve aggressive policy action in Japan.

Why is this important? Most Avaaz members are well aware of the pressing need for action on climate change, but let's briefly recap. To avoid a greater than 2 degrees Celsius increase in global temperatures over pre-industrial levels, the scientific consensus is that greenhouse gases must be limited to 450 parts per million carbon dioxide over the next century [4]-- though some argue that even this figure may be too high and it should be as low as 350 ppm [5]. To achieve this and avoid environmental catastrophe, action must be taken swiftly [6,7]. Countries would need to reach a 60-80% reduction in carbon emissions over 1990 levels by 2050 [4]. An important graphic from the journal Science, showing clearly that if we continue to fail to act (blue line), the rate of carbon emissions we will need to achieve the desired greenhouse gas level may be out of reach [4]:

Unfortunately, our current trajectory is looking more like the blue line than the red. To get to where we need to be in 2050, the G8 and other highly industrialized countries must reduce carbon emissions 25-40% of 1990 levels by 2020 [8]. While scientific innovation is critical, the key next political step is for each of the G8 countries to take the lead and enact binding (mandatory), national caps on emissions at these levels. The non-EU members-- Russia, Canada, United States, Canada, and Japan-- have been particularly slow to move on this. Other proposals that include voluntary or sectoral caps fail to guarantee that these literally earth-saving emissions reductions can be reached. Although the specific, technical aspects of carbon emissions reductions schemes are debatable, allowing companies to choose to reduce their emissions leaves too little to chance in an area where there is so much at stake. For example, a group of American researchers showed that mandatory caps on two acid rain polluters-- Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxides-- each were reduced over 25% from 1991 to 2002 in the United States. In contrast, carbon dioxide, subject to voluntary standards, rose 25% during the same period [9,10]. Clearly, under a voluntary carbon dioxide regime, the United States went in the wrong direction. The experience of Canada also has shown that, despite a relatively strong popular and political will to enact change, voluntary caps failed to achieve its Kyoto goals [11].
Unfortunately, Fukuda's seems to currently favor the Trade Ministry's strategy and is considering largely voluntary, sectoral-- that is, targets set within specific industries rather than at a national level-- targets. Furthermore, they recently announced that they would aim for a 14% reduction from current levels by 2020--a pathetic 4% reduction from 1990 levels and nowhere close to the aggressive action needed [12]. Japan, having both public opinion and its own Environment Ministry on the right side of the issue, is well-positioned to take decisive action, but they need the support of global public opinion to win. Let's get them to immediately declare what scientists have been saying for years now: that their governments must enact mandatory, national caps on carbon emissions to achieve a reduction of 25-40% from 1990 levels by 2020. Let's all work together to help Mr. Fukuda, host to the most powerful and polluting countries in the world, to put mandatory, national carbon caps on the agenda at this meeting-- both for his country and for the rest of the G8.

References

1. Pew Global Attitudes Project. "America's Image Slips, But Allies Share U.S. Concerns Over Iran, Hamas. No Global Warming Alarm in the U.S., China." http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=252.

2. "Voluntary, then mandatory path for CO2 scheme-Japan." Reuters, October 5, 2007. http://uk.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUKT14136220071005.

3. Arita, Eriko. "Are Japan's leaders merely readers on climate change?." Japan Times, March 20, 2008. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fe20080320a1.html.

4. Doniger, David D., Antonia V. Herzog, and Daniel A. Lashof. "CLIMATE CHANGE: An Ambitious, Centrist Approach to Global Warming Legislation." Science 314, no. 5800 (November 3, 2006): 764-765. doi:10.1126/science.1131558. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/314/5800/764.

5. Hansen, J., M. Sato, P. Kharecha, D. Beerling, V. Masson-Delmotte, M. Pagani, et al. "Target atmospheric CO2: Where should humanity aim?." 0804.1126 (April 7, 2008). http://arxiv.org/abs/0804.1126.

6. O'Neill, Brian C., and Michael Oppenheimer. "CLIMATE CHANGE: Dangerous Climate Impacts and the Kyoto Protocol." Science 296, no. 5575 (June 14, 2002): 1971-1972. doi:10.1126/science.1071238. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/296/5575/1971?ijkey=jVqsttm/anqYc&keytype=ref&siteid=sci.

7. Wigley, T. M. L. "The Climate Change Commitment." Science 307, no. 5716 (March 18, 2005): 1766-1769. doi:10.1126/science.1103934. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/307/5716/1766.

8. "The Bali Roadmap: main points." http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22932645-2,00.html.

9. Griscom, Amanda. "Involuntarism: Study finds mandatory caps work better than voluntary programs to limit pollution." Grist.org, April 21, 2008. http://www.grist.org/news/muck/2004/04/21/griscom-emissions/.

10. Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies, Natural Resources Defense Council, Public Service Enterprise Group. "Benchmarking Air Emissions of the 100 Largest Electric Generation Owners in the U.S.." http://www.ceres.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=595&srcid=592.

11. Rivers, Nic, and Mark Jaccard. " Canada's efforts towards greenhouse gas emission reduction: a case study on the limits of voluntary action and subsidies." International Journal of Global Energy Issues 23, no. 4: 307-23.

12. Chris Fujioka, "Japan puts off interim C02 goal," Reuters, June 9, 2009, http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUST31826220080609?sp=true.

On Sunday, Avaaz members and an international coalition of youth, along with local and national NGOs, coordinated a striking aerial art project on Kuta Beach in Bali. Artist John Quigley organized the crowd of over a 500 people to arrange their bodies to form an image of the world being washed away by the rising tide. Above this image, more people spelled the words "Act Now," a message designed to target the UN Climate Negotiations at the beginning of their critical second week.

It was an extraordinary day in a beautiful location that is under tremendous threat from climate change impacts. When photographed from above, the image depicts half of the world awash in rising ocean waters, symbolizing how the nations representing the Global South will suffer the most severe impacts of climate change. The activists sponsoring the event are calling for a Bali breakthrough that would trigger the momentum needed for resolving the climate crisis. A successful Bali Mandate from this year's UN Conference would ensure there is no gap between commitment periods and that actionable items and processes are defined in Bali to work towards a 2009 consensus focused on strong and binding global emissions targets.

The action is another example of how Avaaz members around the planet are making sure that the governments meeting in Bali know that the world is watching and waiting for action to prevent a climate crisis. Below, is a photo of the event courtesy of our friends Step it Up.

Click here to see an enlarged version of the photo.

It's 10pm in Bali, Indonesia and, as Europe and the Americas start their days, the Global Day of Climate Action is drawing to a close on the Island of the Gods. On a typically hot December day, 2000 climate activists descended on the local town of Denpasar to fulfill their part of today's global calls for climate action. After this march, 20 Avaaz members headed off to the Bali International Convention Centre-- the venue where the climate negotiations are taking place. It should be noted that Avaaz were the only organisation allowed to demonstrate within the compound.

Once clearing security we set up our march to deliver the call to action signed by over 545,000 Avaaz members worldwide. In front of the world's media we donned bright pink Avaaz t-shirts, pick up flags from around the world, and began marching with a banner that said: "Bali Virtual March - 545,000 for Climate, Avaaz.org". We did a circuit around the convention centre and then stopped for photos and interviews.

It was a fantastic day and we're delighted that our message has got through, but there's still so much more to do! Canada, the USA and Saudi are continuing their efforts to wreck the negotiating process. As we go into the last week of the conference, Avaaz members will play a critical role in shaping the governments' positions which will determine whether or not Bali is a bust or breakthrough. It's crucial we keep the momentum up!

Below, are some links to photos being used by the media!! In the coming days, we will post a video of the march courtesy of our good friends at Oxfam!

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//071208/ids_photos_wl/r1693503550.jpg/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7134060.stm

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//071208/ids_photos_wl/r1693503550.jpg/

Well over half a million people have now signed up to the virtual march on Bali. But there's so much more we can do to send message to the UN climate negotiations!

On December 8th, Avaaz and the partners of the Global Climate Campaign will be attending marches around the world to demand bold action on climate change. It's a great opportunity to get out of the house and meet other people who care about the climate. To get involved check out this site, where you can use the map sign up to attend an climate march or, event host one of your own!

As Avaaz members around the world push their own governments on climate change, there's good news from the US: a powerful climate movement is sweeping across the United States.

Last April, our friends at Step It Up helped ordinary Americans arrange 1400 rallies urging the government to step up their responses to climate change. Now, Step it Up are back, building the US climate movement even further by pushing for politicians to turn words into action. On November 3, a year before the next election, they are asking people to organize or attend rallies in their communities. This time, they will invite US lawmakers to attend events and see for themselves what the polls are already saying: 86% of US citizens want action on climate change.

This video gives a sense of what happened in April. We're hoping the push this weekend will be even more powerful!

Avaaz members will be adding their global voice to the movement on Monday, as Step It Up culminates in a youth-led conference in Washington DC called PowerShift . On Monday, thousands of US youth climate activists will meet members of Congress on the steps of the Capitol--and they've invited Avaaz to present our global climate petition to Congressional leaders. Then the activists will fan out to lobby their members of Congress one-on-one--and to hand-deliver messages from Avaaz members around the world urging US action on climate change.

Let's hear it for Step It Up and PowerShift!

We've received a number of messages asking for more details about Bush's climate plan--the one he is rallying polluters around the world to support. The core of the issue is that Bush opposes the most critical and effective element of a global treaty: emissions targets that actually count. That's why Bush has mounted a push for a process outside of the UN negotiations. In fact, he's just invited the world's most polluting countries to a summit this September to discuss his toothless approach to climate change:

The Bush administration unveiled plans on Friday for global warming talks next month that will bring together the world's biggest polluters to seek agreement on reducing greenhouse gases. ... But a senior U.S. official said the administration stood by its opposition to mandatory economy-wide caps. Many climate experts say that without binding U.S. emissions targets, the chance for significant progress is limited.

His push for a voluntary, optional system has been reported on for some time, as here:

The United States, one of the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, made no statement at Tuesday's sessions, and has repeatedly rejected firm targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, maintaining this would hurt the US economy.

Instead, Washington has called for voluntary rather than mandatory emissions cuts.

and here:

G8: Bush Proposes Talks on Voluntary Global Goal for Greenhouse Gases

But the thing that really got Avaaz moving on this was word from high-level government officials outside the US that they'd been targeted by the Bush administration, and that Bush and Howard have begun an intense pressure campaign to stop a binding post-Kyoto treaty from going through. Unfortunately, these officials spoke to us on the condition that we not give their names, due to their sensitive role in negotiations. We're working to try to get the full story out through the media. As soon as we do so, rest assured that we'll let our members know about it!

English
Right click (or control-click) the links below and choose "save as" to download the videos.
MP4 Video
Quicktime Video (high resolution)
MP3 (Audio Only)

Español
Vídeo MP4
Vídeo Quicktime (alta resolución)

Português
Vídeo MP4
Vídeo Quicktime (alta resolução)

Français
MP4 Video
Vidéo Quicktime (haute résolution)

Music by/Música por/Musique par: HEPNOVA

Whoopee - the party planning kits are here!

You can download and print your kits (recycled paper please...) by clicking the PDF link below:

http://www.avaaz.org/media/AvaazLiveEarthPartyKit_EN.pdf

By Thursday, Galit and Graziela should have Spanish, Portuguese and French versions ready, we will post those here as well so check back then if you'd prefer that. Major thanks to our friends at Icount for their help (and handy climate diagram).

All that remains to be said is good luck on Saturday, I hope all our events are a roaring success and that, together, we truly take the first step towards building a massive global movement to stop the climate crisis!

We've just been looking through the list of Avaaz Live Earth parties and it's unbelievably exciting! We're got over 2500 events taking place in 114 countries around the world. It's a fantastic response, and it keeps on growing!

When July 7th comes, we'll all be part of the biggest de-centralised global event ever organized. Live Earth is connecting 2 billion people around the world in a message of solidarity that will join us together to stop a climate catastrophe before its too late. It's serious stuff, but the parties are going to be fun! There will be actions to take, a special message from Al Gore and lots more.

Just browsing through the venues for Avaaz's first global virtual party is really exciting...the most common place is "our house", but see below - everyone, from the President of Sierra Leone to Bosnian clubbers, is going to be involved! Here's a snapshot of some of the events taking place:

* Iligan City, Philippines - Uling & Ice Restaurant - Be a part to Combat Climate Crisis

* Freetown, Sierra Leone - Young Leaders of Sierra Leone Avaaz Live Earth party at China Friendship House, with the President of Sierra Leone, youth groups and diplomats in attendance

* San Cristobal de Las Casas, Mexico - Centro Cultural Alternativo "La Fuente" - Amigos del Planeto Vivo ("bike ride, organic buffet, talks, live concert and meditation")

* Prnjavor, Bosnia-Herzegovina - "Little Europe for Big Earth" at the Absolut Club, hosted by Opti Myst

* Ohio, USA - "The World is One Country" at the Dayton International Peace Museum, "join with other earthlings, exhibits, workshops and food"

* Cotonou, Benin - Salle des fetes - "Pour le Salut de notre planete", with projections, games for children and adults, and theatre

* Toronto, Canada - Cabbagetown Community Party at the Union Yoga Center - "Together, we'll make 7/7/07 a turning point in solving the climate crisis!"

We're hearing from people arranging some incredible events for Avaaz's Live Earth parties, all around the world. Before July 7th, however, we've got lots of preparation and planning to do. We've got a few suggestions for getting ready over the next few days - you can get started on some now and Avaaz will be in touch with more details about other elements of the party next week.

One thing you can certainly get started on straight away is inviting your friends - more people means more people power, and more fun! You could Live Earth's invite tool here: http://www.joinliveearth.org/page/event/myevents

or just send people an ordinary e-mail from your usual address, if you think they'd prefer that.

Second, on Monday morning, please download (and if you print it, use recycled paper!) the official Avaaz party planning kit. I'm going to be putting it together over the weekend, so there's only a few days to wait until it will be available on the website!

Thirdly, on Tuesday or Wednesday next week, get your party shopping done - hats, balloons, party food - to make sure you've got plenty to keep people feeling festive on the day.

After that, it's party time! Many people have been asking what time the events start. Live Earth series will kick off in Sydney, at 11am on Saturday July 7th. The last show to begin will be New York, at 1pm. Pick the event closest to you and plan your party around that - allowing for local time differences. The official page detailing how to view or listen to the concerts is constantly being updated, you can view it here: http://www.liveearth.org/event.php#broadcast

Most importantly, don't forget that you can e-mail the Avaaz team at any time to find out more about the parties or to get help with any problems, at liveearth@avaaz.org

"Climate train departed Heiligendamm. Next stop: Live Earth." (thanks to Inel!)

Two billion people will watch the Live Earth concerts for a climate in crisis next Saturday, 07.07.2007. It's an opportunity too big to miss.

Nothing this big is ever perfect. A lot of us were asking whether it would lead to anything, would it just be a flash in the pan, a missed opportunity - or could it give impetus to the sustainable global movement we need, not just for a day but for the years and decades to come?

You don't know until you try. So Avaaz started talking to Al Gore and other Live Earth organizers. And it turned out the answer is YES -- this could really help. But only if we seize the opportunity, and ground all that energy and attention into relationships and action.

Here, for starters, is the invitation Al Gore has sent us - all of us in Avaaz. He says our G8 organising amazed and inspired him.

If we take this invitation up, we can make next Saturday a day that belongs first and foremost to us - not to the corporations or the politicians, but the people of the world. What do you think?

Dear friends,

On July 7, more than 2 billion people will join together to watch the Live Earth concerts and demonstrate to our leaders that the time has come to solve the climate crisis.

Wherever you are that day, you can be part of the action. At events around the world, we are going to convert the potential energy of Live Earth into a global campaign. In thousands of homes, people will invite their friends and neighbors to watch the concerts and join the movement.

In order to make these parties truly global, I've decided to partner with Avaaz. The 385,000 Avaaz members from every corner of the world, who mobilized to pressure the G8, amazed me. Avaaz's work to give ordinary people around the world a powerful voice in global decision-making is inspiring, and your organizing around the G8 Summit made a significant difference. Now we have the opportunity to expand on that great effort.

Will you commit to organize a Live Earth house party on July 7th? The parties will be fun--and they'll make a difference. If you've got a few friends and a TV, you've got everything you need.

7.7.07 will be the one opportunity we have to bring millions of new people into our campaign. We cannot let it slip by.

If you host a Live Earth Party, you'll have access to a special video I've made to urge people to take action. Together, I know we can convince everyone attending these parties to get involved. In a few short hours, you and your friends can watch the concert, take action -- and, at the end, upload a photo from your event that will be accessible to others taking part throughout the world. Through these parties, we can reach more people than ever before and build a truly global movement to solve the climate crisis.

Holding a Live Earth party is easy. All you need is a television and a few friends. We will provide you with all the tools you need - Sign up as a party host here.

Live Earth will be a unique moment when the uninterrupted and undivided attention of the world will be focused on the climate crisis. I need your help to make it count.

Thank you,

Al Gore

I'm having a meet-up next Saturday. Are you?

(our comments system is currently broken, but email comments@avaaz.org and we'll try to put them up for you!)

365,000 of us stood together at the G8 summit to save our planet. 200,000 of us added our voices to the global chorus in the last 10 days alone.

Gazing out on the Baltic, amazed, tired and humbled, taking a deep breath. You're here too.

Overhead, the police helicopters still circle. Down on the beach, the media are getting massages. Beyond the fence, clowns and water cannons. It's a circus, but the power is only too real.

We can't stop now. The coming weeks and months are crucial. In the summit chambers, the G8+5 polluters have agreed on the global climate talks we demanded - but the kind of deal is still up for grabs. Will it be enough, fast enough?

Just in the last few days, Europe, Japan and Canada started to converge on a global goal of 50% or greater emissions cuts by 2050. In the end the US was the only G7 dissenter, Russia standing on the sidelines. So the summit's tortured language speaks of "substantial emissions cuts" and goals without numbers. But the process we demanded - UN talks in Bali this December - looks strengthened.

President Bush only conceded global warming might be real in January. But this week his government felt compelled to shift, even if it's trying wrecking tactics too.

That sabotage can't succeed if we the people stand up for the right path, all around the globe. Bush is increasingly isolated even in his own country - the American public and the US Congress are coming behind bold action on climate change.

And he's isolated in the world - he can't rely on other big polluters like China and Brazil, now moving faster than expected toward the climate savers' camp. The "plus 5" big developing countries said they wanted a stronger statement from the G8. A big international poll just showed 65% of Chinese people and 62% of Indians support requiring their governments to act as well.

It's more than watch this space. Let's fill this space. To stop climate catastrophe, we need a massive global effort from every corner of the world over the coming weeks, months and years.

Let's become unstoppable. We won't stop now - let's grow our petition even further before December's summit.

365,000 and counting...

You can hear Ricken Patel talking about Avaaz's G8 climate campaign on the global affairs magazine openDemocracy's podcast here.

Next climate stop: Live Earth. 7th July, 2007.

(it was lovely to meet face-to-face Avaaz members who made it to Rostock from Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, France, China, New Zealand, the UK and the US! I can't wait to meet more of us...)

Hi everyone.
I'm blogging to you from the German town of Kuhlungsborn, on this the first day of the G8 Summit. I'm sitting on the upper deck of the G8 media center staring out towards the Baltic Sea. It's really quite pleasant, if you can shut out the noise of the G8 leaders arriving in their helicopters. (The Japanese PM just arrived about 20 mins ago!)

It's been an odd couple of weeks. The media speculation of the Bush vs. Merkel climate stand off - where will the other leaders fall? - was exhausting to say the least. Nevertheless we stayed the course and it seems to have paid off. It currently seems that Bush will either be isolated, or converted when the G8 leaders discuss climate change tomorrow afternoon. Let us pray that the official G8 magazine is no indication of what's to follow. On the first page there is a welcome letter from Merkel where she says that the key question for the G8 is "how can we sustainably preserve the natural resources of out planet?": i.e. how can we insure climate change doesn't ruin us. This leaves me with a warm fuzzy feeling. But then SHOCK HORROR, I turn the page to find an article that begins: "At a glance it would be easy to dismiss the private jet industry as nothing more than a supplier of decadent conceits for the benefit of the rich and famous." I couldn't agree more by the way. However, the article continues: "it would be a big mistake to see it that way. The industry is far larger than it's glitzy fringe, and far more essential to the global economy." Ummm......anyone else see the hypocrisy here?

Whatever the outcome of tomorrow, one amazing feat has taken place in the past two weeks: the creation of the biggest global climate petition in the world. I'd like to thank each and everyone of the 333,333 of you for supporting Avaaz on this critical issue. This is not the end, it is merely the beginning - lets see just how big we can make this. Please keep spreading the word about our climate campaign! From Kuhlungsborn, Tschuess!!

It's crunch time: the G8+5 meet this week in Heiligendamm. The energy in Germany is electric. Every few hours, new reports come in as governments manoeuvre.

The good news about Bush's proposals? He's up for a new deal and a global goal. But all the details are a step back. Is it a wrecking tactic? At first there was confusion. But when we met with top G8 negotiator Bernd Pfaffenbach last week, he defined Germany's negotiating "red lines" in a way which left no doubt they support our campaign demands, and promised to take our petition into the summit.

Over the weekend, Angela Merkel followed through on Pfaffenbach's promise and the Brits followed suit. Now we're in touch with top officials from several G8+5 countries, who are following our campaign as they decide on a strong stand. We're shooting for a third of a million signatures, to make summit leaders think twice before they decide on Friday.

It's not just the Europeans - President Lula of Brazil just rejected any process outside the UN, saying, "We cannot let voluntarism override multilateralism... for God's sake, let's take care of planet earth." Bravo Lula!

China too supported the UN, and started to move in the right direction. While saying it expects the previously-industrialised countries to shoulder the burden of their previous emissions (and many would agree), there are some signs it'll do its part after Kyoto.

The US too looks set to come onboard in 2009, the deadline for the new climate talks to reach agreement - there's a sea-change there, and Congress and the US people are way ahead of Bush. Even if he's left on the sidelines, it won't be the end.

But other leaders need to stiffen their nerve - and they need to hear our voices rising and ringing in their ears! So if you haven't already, click here to sign and tell all your friends...

(For more background, visit the FT's coverage here.)

Wonderful - that's how I would describe our day! I know most of you will have been following the events in the media, picturing scenes of chaos. But it was nothing of the sort. Close to 100,000 people of all shapes, sizes, ages, nationalities and political inclinations showed up to march in Rostock. A very small minority can't wreck that hugely positive and peaceful vibe we found.

The immediate build up to these events is always a frantic time. With team members coming from New York and London, supporters from Poland, Spain and Denmark, banners from Switzerland and t-shirts from Hamburg there were a lot of things that could have gone wrong. Fortunately it all came together, despite Galit and me suffering from severe jet lag, our photographer being rushed to hospital and Hannah standing on a shard of glass!

On the morning of the march we met with our banner and T-shirt men Pascal, Miguel and Tino. We were delighted - the banners and t-shirts came out perfectly. Joined by Paul, straight from his petition delivery in Berlin, we moseyed over to the rendezvous place. We successfully rendezvoused with our volunteers, including Mike from New Zealand! Galit then used her amazing charm to recruit a few more: two German teenagers and their parents; Germans of all ages and others from France, Bulgaria, Denmark, Norway, Peru, Switzerland and China. So we were truly a global gathering: 100 Avaaz T-shirts went like hotcakes, to old and young alike:

Thanks to Greenpeace Germany we had a fantastic position right at the head of the climate march, that gave photographers plenty of room to keep dashing in and taking pictures of our multi-lingual banners. The banners looked incredible - having them handmade by Pascal and Miguel's Swiss art collective was really good and we were one of the only organisations with banners in more languages than German and English.

With the Avaaz march ready to set off the only thing left to do was to pray that it wouldn't rain. The weather in Rostock was grey, windy and miserable, but that would not deter us! We set off. The march route was 5km we completed the whole route making lots of noise along the way. At the end, we got to the rally in time to hear the speeches and enjoy a peaceful few hours down by Rostock harbour. Much fun was had by all.

There is a lot riding on the events of the coming week, but I'm feeling good about it. Together we've created the biggest global climate change petition ever, with hundreds of thousands of us coming together from 193 countries. We've been heard and seen by the politicians. If they choose to ignore us they do so at their own peril! Thank you to all of you who have supported the petition. And an extra-special thanks to those that braved the wind and cold to march with us in Rostock!

Over 265,000 of us are being heard at the G8+5 summit. Here's a picture of German Avaaz member Ayla handing a box of petition signatures to Dr Bernd Pfaffenbach (German state minister, top G8 negotiator, Angela Merkel's special representative) -

That's me, Bernd Pfaffenbach, Ayla and Hans Verolme (WWF's global climate director - and Avaaz member!)

More photos below, or check out our Flickr account for hi-res.

The news came in a last-minute phone call - Germany's top negotiator wanted to PERSONALLY receive our climate petition before the summit begins. The Germans are hosting the G8, so they set the agenda - it was a golden opportunity to bring our challenge straight to the heart of the summit and make sure everyone knows the strength of global public opinion.

So we scrambled. The indomitable Ayla found a little Turkish copy shop in Kreuzberg, persuaded them to spend half the day finding 3200 sheets of recycled paper to print out the petition. We overloaded their computers. She picked up the last 90,000 signatures at midnight. I was up till 3am working on letters and briefing packs.

So we carted our three big boxes of signatures off to the ministry, and walked along the high empty halls, and through the strangely revolving doors - and if it had just been us, maybe we'd have started to feel small. But we were bringing the rest of you with us into those corridors of power, all 265,000 of us, filling the place up, and so we walked into Bernd's office feeling sure and unafraid.

A big guy, friendlier than he looks in these photos, but tough in a corner I reckon, with the head of his office Ulrich Benterbusch looking worried but pleased. Negotiator Bernd welcomed us warmly, saying

"Thank you for this important effort by your global community - we will make sure it is brought into our discussions at the summit."

Hmmm. Did he really mean it, or was he soft-soaping us? I challenged, "We bring the voices of 265,000 people from every country in the world - three in five of us coming from outside the G8 countries. Climate change isn't just an issue for the most industrialised countries - this is a global problem we all share - the poorest are set to suffer most, and it demands a global solution. You have to start negotiating this year, and to set binding emissions targets. But will our voices be heard at this summit? Can it bring us closer to the global deal we need?"

And do you know what? He sang our tune.

"Our red lines are that we will not abandon the UN process: we must have a firm mandate to start talks at the Bali summit in December, targeted on a post-Kyoto agreement in 2009, and we will not accept any attempts to weaken the scientific basis. We need to work toward concrete, binding goals."

Decoded, that's very good. He pounced on the boxes - three of them, full of over 3000 pages of signatures to the Avaaz climate petition. He wouldn't let go of them. He said, "Come and sit down. We have to talk."

So for twenty minutes, we talked very frankly about what is going on right now, and some of the dilemmas. The stakes are high. The politics are intense. A lot of what we discussed has to stay out of print for now. There's too much at stake. But you can probably guess most of it.

Luckily, we'd asked a couple of friends at WWF (the World Wildlife Fund) to come in with us. Between us we had a few important things to tell the negotiators. WWF really know their stuff on the policy, they're talking to the Chinese, the Japanese - but things are so tense in the run-up to this summit they hadn't got hold of the German negotiators for days, so we were glad to have them with us. (The WWF guys are Avaaz members too of course...)

I can tell you, the Avaaz team and NGOs like WWF are unimpressed by Bush's "plan". More delay, no sign of binding targets, the risk of an endrun round the global multilateral process, the poison pills lurking in the detail. In public, Herr Doktor Pfaffenbach would only say "We must see how the US proposals could be incorporated into this framework." Good: the world needs diplomats.

But we got a clear impression that Germany will stand firm against any poor compromise - and we urged them not to bend: the world stands with them. If they start this year, a deal in 2009 is possible... Courage is of the essence.

We talked about poverty and Africa too - he said, "Bob Geldof was on the phone yesterday. We know: we have to do something." Good: let's make it more than something. We weren't kidding with our G8 poverty campaign last month with Desmond Tutu and the Global Call to Action Against Poverty: the G8 are failing to meet their promises there, and thousands are dying by the day.

As we left the office, the boxes sat squarely on the minister's desk. Ready for Angela Merkel to bang them down on the table at a crucial moment in the discussions? Let's hope so. From the inside to the outside. Onward to Rostock. Our banners in eight languages have been handmade by Pascal's Swiss art collective. They're on a train right now.

I need some sleep - and a needle and thread. I tore my trousers outside the ministry and I didn't even notice.

I hope we're making a difference. We're doing everything we can with all of you to make this global voice heard... operation rescue earth, before it's too late.

And there's yet more to do. Have you signed the petition? Have you told everyone you know? As I'm posting this evening - 270,705 and counting. See you in Rostock - whether in the flesh, or on the net. We're bringing all 270,705 of us to the streets there too.