I'm back, and with my return I bring good news from Germany: Merkel has said that she aims to get the G8 to adopt an ambitious climate protection agreement when the G8 leaders meet in June.

I arrived in Berlin at 7am on the morning of March 15th, getting stopped at German customs and asked if I wanted to declare the 100,000 signatures I was carrying- boy were they heavy! I explained to the customs man what was in the box, and he politely let me pass. I head outside, enjoying my first breathe of fresh air after 8 hours of recycled air. I manage to flag a cab, in broken German I say "Potsdam bitte" the cabbie replies: "kein problem" we're off!

I check into my hotel, have some breakie, take a shower and get ready for the big event. The meeting is taking place at Hotel Schwielowsee a grand hotel that sits on the shores of a lake (no idea what it's called). I arrive at 2.30pm to talk to the other NGOs there ahead of the main event at 4pm. Everyone is very impressed by our petition: "how did you get so many names in 3 days?" I humbly reply: "Avaaz members are immense."

The delegates arrived just before 4pm. China, Russia, USA, Brazil, France, and India were absent, which was very annoying as we had petitions to give them!! The only Minister there was Sigmar Gabriel, another annoyance as it would have been nice to present all the Ministers with the petition. The reps there were: senior negotiators from the UK, Japan, Mexico, South Africa (who was a seriously cool guy); the director of the UNEP (Mr. Steiner); and a representative from the EU commission.

I speak with the organisers who tell me the meeting was divided into 3 parts: Climate, Biodiversity, and Africa. I'm scheduled for 1-2 minutes at the end of climate, with 3 other speakers before me. The meeting started. Gabriel welcomed everyone and gave a quick talk about climate change being the biggest challenge facing humankind, rapturous applause!! He then opened the floor to open questions. Soon enough it's my turn: "Dear Minister, Chairmen Steiner, ladies and Gentlemen. My name is Iain Keith and I'm here on behalf of the 1 Million members of Avaaz.org. Avaaz.org is a new online community where global citizens can take action on the biggest issues facing our world. I have here, in my hands, a petition from our members who would like to tell you that they are scared of climate change, inparticular the lack of action being taken by world leaders. The countries represented in this room are responsible for the majority of global greenhouse gas emissions. As ministers of the environment you are in an excellent position to persuade your leaders to make tackling climate change the number one priority for the next G8 summit. Our members humbly request that you accept this petition as a reminder of your responsibilities, and to help persuade your leaders." I hand him the petition. HOORAY!!

I sit down, immediately regretting that I forgot to tell him how many signatures we had, and the countries they were from. I put it down to a combination of jet lag and nerves and try to forget about it. As the meeting draws to a close Minister Gabriel says "Thanks to increased pressure from people around the world the tide is turning. When an international NGO can gather 1 million (DOH!) signatures (and holds up our petition (I know you can't see it but it's there!)) we cannot ignore this problem anymore. I bet they could even get 5-10 times this amount. As Environmental ministers, we have a responsibility both to the environment, and our voters to make sure our heads of state act!" He then hands over to Mr. Steiner from the UNEP who gives an amazing speech. The meeting ends. I manage to corner Japan, Mexico and South Africa to present the petition. They assure me they will pass it onto their ministers- smile for the camera, CLICK.

I then get approach by BBC world news, and do a 1 minute radio interview. It's rushed, but I get all the talking points in. The kicker of the meeting was that there really wasn't a lot of press there, because the ministers were absent. On the way out the door I bump into Mr Steiner from the UNEP. I decide to hand him a petition, he thanks me and then says: I'm very interested in Avaaz.org. I've been following your work since I read about you in the Economist! Great! I thank him.

So the verdict overall verdict is one of success. Collectively we managed to get over 100,000 signatures, delivered the petition to Minister Gabriel, and generated a lot of interest in Avaaz. However, we should not be complacent. At the main meetings that followed this event the U.S made life difficult by refusing to form a consensus with the other 12 countries. This will be a major hurdle for any future negotiations. Our plan, therefore, is to keep this petition going, in order to remind Merkel of her commitment, and to show the U.S. that they owe it to the world to act. We want to use the various meetings and events over the coming months to get as many signatures as we can in the build up to the G8. Provisionally, we've set the target at 250,000. However, I'm sure we can get 1 million- that's each of the 100,000 signers telling 10 friends to sign up!

Thanks so much for all your help. I hope you will continue to support our cause. I look forward to seeing just how big we can make this thing.