Global Day of Action is a direct action protest format.

Environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks ...

initiatives began to use it in 2005 in connection with Global Climate Campaign. They aimed to focus world attention on the anthropogenic effect that

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

s are having on

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

. Its main objective is to spearhead demands that elected representatives of their respective governments honor commitments set forth by the Kyoto Protocol, by conducting in unison peaceful

demonstrations Demonstration may refer to: * Demonstration (acting), part of the Brechtian approach to acting * Demonstration (military), an attack or show of force on a front where a decision is not sought * Demonstration (political), a political rally or prote ...

around the world. The demonstration, or rallies, are intended to coincide with the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in ...

(UNFCCC), a meeting of world leaders from 189 nations, that meet annually to discuss

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

History

2018

In 2018, Global Day of Action took place during Global Goals Week, an annual week-long event in September for action, awareness, and accountability for the Sustainable Development Goals.

2007

Global Day of Action demonstration in Toronto, Canada

The most recent Global Day of Action event, entitled ''Kyoto Now!'', occurred on December 8, 2007 to coincide with the UNFCCC's conference, otherwise known as COP 13/MOP 3, convening Dec 3-14, 2007 in Bali,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. Numerous groups and

coalitions A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

, as well as independent grassroots efforts, were organized in over eighty countries worldwide to march in open rallies in support of this initiative. Chief among them was

Campaign against Climate Change The Campaign against Climate Change (variously abbreviated to CCC or CaCC) is a UK-based pressure group that aims to raise public awareness of anthropogenic climate change through mobilising mass demonstrations. Founded in 2001 in response to ...

, Stop Climate Chaos and Greenpeace. There were citizens in 84 countries - fifty more than the first year - participating in simultaneous rallies and marches around the world.

Industrialized Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

, G8

nations A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by t ...

like Australia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Japan,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, UK, and

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

had multiple rallies - 36 in Canada alone - being planned in cities nationwide. In

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, a Saturday demonstration featured music, juggling and stilt-walking acts, with traffic being interrupted around Syntagma Square by the 102 organizations taking part. In

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, about 1,500 people marched through the streets holding banners and placards saying "No to carbon dioxide".

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

activists also congested its main thoroughfare of

Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost leg of provincial H ...

, with an estimated 2000-3000 marchers, although another report estimated 500. Speaking at that event under a sunny sky, which began at

Dundas Square Dundas may refer to: Places Australia * Dundas, New South Wales * Dundas, Queensland, a locality in the Somerset Region * Dundas, Tasmania * Dundas, Western Australia * Fort Dundas, a settlement in the Northern Territory 1824–1828 * Shire o ...

, was

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National ...

federal party leader

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian academic and politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on To ...

, and an impassioned and well received speech, in both French and English, by 12-year-old Misha Hamu. Elsewhere in Canada, a mock funeral was conducted in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, where black-clad protesters sang songs and gave eulogies over a long black coffin, and David Suzuki spoke at a rally in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. In

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

, more than 1000 volunteers of Greenpeace descended on

M. Chinnaswamy Stadium The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium (formerly known as the Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium) is a cricket stadium located in Bangalore, Karnataka. Flanked by the picturesque Cubbon Park, Queen's Road, Cubbon and uptown MG Road, this five-dec ...

, dressed head to toe in yellow, holding up a large number of placards with climate messages, making human art formations and wearing fun masks. Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Thailand celebrated their event by releasing their new edition of ''Save the Climate Handbook'' at

Chatuchak weekend market The Chatuchak Weekend Market ( th, ตลาดนัดจตุจักร, ), on Kamphaeng Phet 2 Road, Chatuchak, Bangkok, is the largest market in Thailand. Also known as JJ Market, it has more than 15,000 stalls and 11,505 vendors (2019) ...

, which also featured a demonstration clinic on solar energy. In

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

there was over 7000 participants rallying under a clear blue sky. In

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, German

ice sculpture Ice sculpture is a form of sculpture that uses ice as the raw material. Sculptures from ice can be abstract or realistic and can be functional or purely decorative. Ice sculptures are generally associated with special or extravagant events becaus ...

artist Christian Funk, carved a polar bear out of 15 tons of ice in front of the Brandenburg Gate on December 7, 2007, in honor of the protest. Measuring 4m x 4m x 1.5m, it was on display all the following day as it slowly melted. In

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

over 10,000 supporters turned out in the rain carrying placards denouncing a planned expansion at Heathrow Airport of a third runway.BBC News
/ref> Locations of demonstrations in 2007 #Albania #Andorra #Argentina #Australia #Austria #Bangladesh #Belarus #Belgium #Benin #Bermuda #Bolivia #Brazil #Bulgaria #Burundi #Cameroon #Canada #Colombia #Congo (DR) #Costa Rica #Croatia #Czech Republic #Denmark #Egypt #Finland #France #Germany #Ghana #Greece #Guinea #Iceland #India #Indonesia #Ireland #Italy #Japan #Jordan #Kenya #Lebanon #Liberia #Macedonia #Malta #Mexico #Morocco #Nepal #Netherlands #New Caledonia #New Zealand #Nicaragua #Nigeria #Northern Ireland #Norway #Pakistan #Palestine #Panama #Paraguay #Philippines #Poland #Portugal #Puerto Rico #Romania #Russia #Scotland #Senegal #Serbia #Sierra Leone #Singapore #Slovenia #South Africa #South Korea #Spain #Sri Lanka #Sweden #Switzerland #Taiwan #Tanzania #Thailand #Togo #Turkey #Uganda #Ukraine #United Arab Emirates #United Kingdom #United States #Uruguay

2005

In response to entering into force of the Kyoto Protocol, following

ratification Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent that lacked the authority to bind the principal legally. Ratification defines the international act in which a state indicates its consent to be bound to a treaty if the parties inte ...

by Russia, on February 16, 2005, Global Day of Action rallies were first conducted on December 3, 2005 to coincide with the UNFCCC's ''First Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol'', or MOP 1, in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

. The following year on November 3 and 11, 2006, rallies were conducted again when the UNFCCC convened for the ''Second Meeting of Parties'', or MOP 2, in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

. Locations of demonstrations in 2005 # Sydney (Australia) # Bangladesh # Brazil # Sofia (Bulgaria) # Halifax (Canada) - organized by Zoë Caron, Co-author of Climate Change for Dummies, and Aliza Weller, Ecology Action Centre # Montreal (Canada) # Chile # Congo (Democratic Republic of) # Zagreb (Croatia) # Helsinki (Finland) # Paris (France) # Berlin (Germany) # Athens (Greece) # Dublin (Ireland) # Indonesia # Italy # Japan # Mexico # Wellington (New Zealand) # Nicaragua # Oslo (Norway) # Peru # Manila (Philippines) # Lisbon (Portugal) # Romania # Moscow (Russia) # South Africa # Barcelona (Spain) # Istanbul (Turkey) # Uganda # London (England) # Edinburgh (Scotland) # Belfast (Northern Ireland) # United States # Venezuela

Notes and references

External links