Nairobi,
28 August 2009 - The United Nations is calling
for millions of online signatures for a
climate petition and is launching the first-ever
Global Climate Week as part of its Seal
the Deal! campaign, 100 days ahead of a
crucial UN climate change summit in Copenhagen
(COP 15) in December.
United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon is leading the call for communities
around the world to take advantage of Global
Climate Week from September 21-25 to encourage
leaders to seal a fair, balanced and effective
agreement on climate change.
"Time is running
out. Scientists warn that climate impacts
are accelerating. Now more than ever, we
need political leadership at the highest
level to ensure we protect people and the
planet, and to catalyze the green growth
that can power the 21st century economy,"
the UN Secretary-General stressed.
"With just 15 negotiating
days remaining before the start of COP15,
now is the time for people in every corner
of the world to urge their governments to
seal a fair, effective and ambitious deal
in Copenhagen," he added.
On 1 September, Mr.
Ban will visit a Norwegian island deep inside
the Arctic Circle near the North Pole to
witness the problem of glacial melt and
other climate change impacts.
Global Climate Week will
coincide with the Secretary-General's Summit
on Climate Change at UN Headquarters in
New York on September 22, one day ahead
of the annual General Assembly meeting.
Among the events planned
for more than 120 countries are youth assemblies,
tree planting drives, a climate neutral
day and a 'Go Green Day'. New York and other
cities around the world have set up a full
programme for the week.
"A scientifically-credible
deal in Copenhagen can catalyze a transition
to a low carbon, resource efficient Green
Economy which is so essential on a planet
of six billion people, rising to over nine
billion by 2050. As such, it will represent
perhaps the biggest and most far reaching
stimulus package of 2009 and beyond,"
added Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary
General and Executive Director of the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Communities, businesses
and individuals are encouraged to add their
voices to the Seal the Deal! campaign during
Global Climate Week by signing the Climate
Petition at www.sealthedeal2009.org to coalesce
millions of signatures.
The Climate Petition
is a consolidation of appeals supported
by the UN Seal the Deal! campaign. The petition
will be presented by civil society to the
governments of the world in Copenhagen.
The Prime Minister of
Thailand, Abhisit Vejjajiva, the President
of Ethiopia, Dr. Girma Woldegiorgis and
the Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea,
Han Seung-soo and Nobel Laureate Wangari
Maathai are amongst those who have lent
their support to campaign.
The campaign has also
attracted the support of Austrian pop group
My Excellence with a song called "Come
On (Seal the Deal)" which was performed
for the first time live on August 28 in
a ceremony at the United Nations Office
at Vienna attended by Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon.
"Efforts made today
to combat climate change are one of the
smartest possible investments we can make
in our future. We need to show our support
for green stimulus packages and a fair deal
in Copenhagen which will determine the path
of the global economy and the well-being
of hundreds of millions of people throughout
the 21st century," said Mr. Ban.
Notes to Editors:
To sign the petition,
go to www.sealthedeal2009.org.
To pledge your support
and to sign up for Global Climate Week go
to http://www.sealthedeal2009.org/global-climate-week.
The United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) is supporting the Internews
Earth Journalism Awards to honour the best
climate change reporting in the run up to
Copenhagen: http://awards.earthjournalism.org/content/climate-change-negotiations-award.
For more information please contact:
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson and Head
of Media
