4:27pm Monday 21st September 2009
By Harriet Waldron
DEMONSTRATORS gathered in Amersham and more than a thousand cities around the world to send a deafening wake-up call on climate change to world leaders today.
More than thirty Buckinghamshire residents who gathered near the memorial gardens were asked to set their alarm clocks for 12.18pm – a reference to the next Climate Change conference in Copenhagen, which takes place on 18 December.
When the alarms went off the clocks and mobile phones were raised in the air.
The 'wake-up call' took place in over 2,200 areas in 128 countries across the world.
The global event was organised by Avaaz.org, an international civic organisation which promotes activism on issues such as climate change, human rights and religious conflicts.
Amongst the residents was William Whippet, a greyhound owned by Lady Jean Johnson.
Host Russ Fleming said he was there on behalf of the animal kingdom, and “to represent the speed we are lacking in our political efforts”.
Cllr Martin King of Amersham Town Council said he attended as he was keen to demonstrate his personal support for action against climate change.
One demonstrator, Samantha Free from Amersham, said she was keen to make the town a “transition town”, where motivated individuals within a community come together with a shared concern – in this case, Amersham's response to climate change.
Shirley Judges from Great Missenden said she is concerned for her grandson and the world he will live in when he is older.
She said: “People should be taking the action that is needed now.”
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