climate march - success and disappointment

he

 It's possible that the bus trip into the march/rally was slightly more fun than the event itself... But he did enjoy being a part of the crowd, spotting different colours, signs, props and costumes and riding on Daddy's shoulders for the march. And, importantly, it opened up conversation about why we were there (...we all want to make sure that the world is still a nice place when you are big... ...there are things that people do that hurt our world...). He just got a little weary by the end!

me

My 'march' was more of a waddle, but I walked the block nonetheless! Conveniently, the rally coincided with the regular city suitcase rummage so we popped past on the way home. To quote Avaaz: 

"Months ago, our community decided on a crazy goal - the largest mobilisation on climate change in history. Yesterday, we blew past our wildest expectations, with a climate march *6 times* the size of anything before it! Over 675,000 of us marched around the world. It was a beautiful expression of our love for all that climate change threatens, and our hope that we can save this world and build a society powered by 100% safe, clean energy."

It's inspiring that so many people around the world are on board. It's just a shame (an insult, a crime) that our country's decision-makers are not. Our Prime Minister decided to show up the day AFTER the major UN Climate Talks over the weekend. To quote Chris Uhlmann (ABC):

"More than 120 world leaders will gather in New York to tackle what the UN secretary general says is one of the defining issues of our time. The US president is expected to attend but Tony Abbott isn't - even though he'll be in New York for another UN meeting just a day later."