Cape Town marches for Paris, COP21

Beginning this week on 30 November 2015, leaders of over 190 countries are gathering in Paris for COP21. Unable to march themselves following the terror attacks in Paris two weeks ago, digital social activists Avaaz.com stepped into the gap, urging people to show up in their cities and countries in solidarity with Paris and all global citizens.

Image by Terry Levin

Online petition

A spectacularly successful response has resulted in the largest climate march in history ever staged, with people turning out in London, Berlin, São Paulo, Melbourne, Sydney, Tokyo, Rome, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Auckland, Ottawa, Mexico City, Seoul, Madrid, Togo, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea and more and the Avaaz.org online petition accumulating 3.6 million signatures.

Viva green Cape Town

On Sunday, 29 November, in solidarity with the 2000 other worldwide events, the Cape Town Climate Walk event took place, with 1500 green-clad people (many of whom had made a special effort to attend from outlying areas) drumming, singing, dancing and chanting through the streets of Cape Town en route to deliver their memorandum to Parliament.

Capetonians gathered on Keizersgracht outside the Cape Town University of Technology (CPUT) campus. Speakers included Peter Johnston from UCT, Louise Naude from WWF, Nick King and other environmental activists such as Thembeka Mjali and Mpumeleo Mhlalisi, who spoke about clean energy issues.

Memorandum delivered to Parliament

Former MP, Lance Greyling received the memorandum, assuring the assembled crowd of the intentions of the Mayor's Office, towards meeting clean energy goals for the City of Cape Town.

Key points of the memorandum:

The need for South Africa to up its level of commitment to reducing dangerous climate change causing gases by moving more determinedly away from its reliance on fossil fuels. At present its pledges are deemed "insufficient".
The need for the Western Cape to heed its own telling report on climate change impacts on the province by carefully re-evaluating policies related to land use change, economic development and conservation of coastal, wetland and biodiversity rich areas.
The need for Cape Town to embrace the potential for all citizens to contribute to the electricity grid through small PV installations by revising policy that currently inhibits this.

For more information on the Cape Town Climate Walk, email moc.em@reyebednagem.

View the gallery of the Cape Town Climate March.