Come Sunday and Indian civil society groups will join others around the world to call on governments to speed up action on climate change by signing an ambitious agreement at the Paris COP-21.
"The summit in Paris is the second of two unique UN summits in 2015, which together provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change. At the UNGA in September, world leaders committed themselves to a new set of Global Goals for Sustainable Development. Now leaders face their first test on whether they are serious about making these goals a reality," a statement from Raahgiri, a citizens movement for clean air that originated in Gurgaon, said.
"Throughout India, Raahgiri will promote a day of action for climate, including different ways people can pressure leaders to deliver on a strong agreement at the UN Climate Summit. Specifically, Raahgiri will support a Walk for #ClimateAction in which people will have the opportunity to unite their voice by sending a missed call to 09590461100, which is a national number being set up to collect pledges that will be totalled and delivered to Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar," the statement said.
Raahgiri and action/2015, one of the world's largest civil society campaigns made up of over 2,000 organisations, networks and coalitions from 150 countries, "will join together under a uniting banner to call for strong action on sustainable development at COP21,". The activities will run from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. at nine locations. In New Delhi, people will have the opportunity to participate at Connaught Place, Dwarka, Rohini and Shahdra. Other locations include Gurgaon, Karnal, Chandigarh, Bhopal, Indore and Hyderabad.
This will be replicated in 160 countries, from the Amazon to the megacities of the South, from the streets of America to the squares of Europe, from villages in Africa and Asia to low-lying island communities in the Pacific, "in cities, towns and villages across the world, citizens will be marching for change and highlighting how decisions at COP21 in Paris will have an impact on a local, national and global scale," the statement said.
