We walk out, our leaders wake up. Demand greater action on climate change. Monday 26th April, 2010. 1pm.
At Copenhagen, our leaders failed us. It’s time to send them a wake up call. Demand that the UK government commits to a 42% reduction in carbon emissions now.
Why? Take actionWhy? So that we can enjoy the same quality of life enjoyed by past generations. And so the world’s poorest people, who contribute least to climate change, won’t continue to be hit the worst.
More... Take actionThis is about our future. Together we can change it. So, at 1pm on April 26th we take to the streets of every town, city and village in the UK in a peaceful show of people power called the Wake Up : Walk Out.
Take action1. Text WAKEUP to 82222.
The UK Government needs to act more ambitiously on climate change. Send them a Wake Up call – text WAKEUP to 82222 followed by your name and postcode. We will deliver your message, along with thousands of others, to Downing Street after the big day. Find out how this works.
Texts cost 25p. Around 20p goes to your phone company. The remaining 5p covers the set up charge for the text campaign. If any of those 5p’s create a surplus, we’ll ask our followers what we should do with the money.
What happens next...
By sending the text you’ll be demanding that the government commits to a carbon emissions target of 42% (of 1990 levels) now. (Why 42%?)
We will send your text (without your mobile number) to Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband, the Climate Change Minister. And, because a general election is looming we’ll also send the texts to Greg Clarke, the Shadow Environment Minister, so that our voice is heard by whichever party becomes the next Government.
We won’t share your phone number with them but we will use your name and postcode as proof of your action and to put political pressure on them to act.
Close2. Walk Out
Monday 26th April, 1pm. Wherever we are, whatever we’re doing – we stop and we Walk Out. Right across the UK we take to the streets, and send a unique and powerful message to the Government – cut carbon to 42% NOW. Once you’ve walked out, send a Wake Up text – and if possible, video your Walk Out. You can then send footage to the media via this site.
Here’s what you can do to really make a difference:
Take part...
...in the Wake Up : Walk Out. Tell your friends, organise a Walk Out Event and spread the word with posters.
Tell the media...
...about your Walk Out with a press release – an easy, powerful way to let your local paper know what you’re doing (and we’ll let the nationals know...)
Walk Out.
Raise a rabble and shout from the rooftops. Hold a minute’s silence for our future. Organise your mates, but whatever you do, send a Wake Up Call to the Government – text WAKEUP to 82222 followed by your full name and postcode.
Record...
...your Walk Out. Upload the video or photo to YouTube or Flickr, then send the link to TV stations via this site. We’ll show you how on the day.
The WalkOut Poll.
What will you do?
Organise your Wake Up : Walk Out
...in three easy steps:
3. Amplify your action.
The more people we get, the more pressure we apply, so we’ve made it easy to amplify the power of your actions using the tools below.
Tell the media...
Send your own press release and let the media know what you’re up to – it’s quick, easy and effective.
Thank you! Your press release has been sent.
You can modify the press release if you want, but please keep it friendly and sensible.
Tell your friends...
Set your Wake Up Alarm
Don’t forget to Walk Out.
Download a Wake Up alarm to your phone:
Alarm 1 (nasty) | Alarm 2 (nice)
These are compressed .mp3 files for easy downloading.
Need help? Email us.
4. More info.
What is Wake Up : Walk Out?
A day of peaceful, intelligent, mass direct action – 2010 style.
No aggro, no riot police, just change.
We need the politics of climate change to catch up with the science.
If we mobilise in enough numbers, we can make political action a necessity.
What it’s not, is stupid, violent or intimidating – this is an opportunity to mobilise, not vandalise. This is about rethinking direct action, making it something simple and effective that we can all do. We need you if you want change. But you’re the last thing we need if you want a scrap.
What are we asking for?
We’re asking the UK Government to:
- Set a legally binding carbon emissions target of 42% (of 1990 levels)
- Put the UK at the forefront of a clean energy economy
Because right now the Government has only committed to a 34% cut in carbon emissions. That’s 8% too little.
Why would an extra 8% make such a positive difference?
Firstly, the current cuts only give us a 50/50 chance of avoiding irreversible climate change. Deeper cuts now would have very little adverse on our economic growth (about 1%).
Making cuts later is more dangerous environmentally and will be much more costly in economic terms. Greater ambition now does more than avoid negative consequences. It actually brings very positive consequences – like energy security for the UK and hundreds of thousands of green jobs – positioning the UK as a global leader in new and lucrative green markets.
Why do it?
We have to. More than 192 countries attended Copenhagen. More leaders met there than at any event in history. Millions of us mobilised to demand a fair, ambitious and binding agreement. None of it worked. We’re 82 months from irreversible climate change. Never has radical change been less radical or more necessary.
It’s easy. Making your voice heard is as easy as texting WAKEUP to 82222 followed by your name and postcode. But if you want to do more it will certainly have more effect – simply by using the amplify tools on this site. If you can walk out, the amplify tool makes it easy to let your local press know. Then, if you can document your Walk Out, you can use the amplify tool to send your videos and photos to national TV media. This has never been done before. If we each bombard the media with footage of every Walk Out we can multiply the effect of each of our actions.
It’s fun. Wake Up and Walk Out wearing your pyjamas. Dress up and Walk Out. Walk Out and party down. Wear black, Walk Out and hold a minute silence for our future. Invite your MP to Walk Out with you. This is our future, this is our day, it’s up to us.
We have an opportunity. It’s the run up to the general election, and all the major political parties know how important young people were in getting President Obama elected. If we mobilise in enough numbers we have a unique opportunity to get the current and next government (if that’s different) to commit to the emissions cuts that we need to boost our economy, secure our energy supplies and our future.
5. Cool stuff.
Publicise your Wake Up call. Download our free posters and wallpapers and let your world know about your Walk Out. Got a world-changing design for a Wake Up : Walk Out poster? Email it to us.
- Download 1
- Download 2
- Download 3
- Download 4
- Your cool thing here
- Your cool thing here
- Your cool thing here
- Your cool thing here
Making it happen
Wake Up : Walk Out is an initiative from BeThatChange.
It’s supported by you, and by cool people like:
Links
- Kick starting a green economy – greenpeace.org.uk
- Committee on Climate Change – theccc.org.uk
- ‘The Power Of Now’ – video with Joss Garman – bethatchange.com
- “Power to the people”
- by Mike Cannings
- thinginmyhead.wordpress.com
- Download poster:
- Zipped PDF
Need help downloading, printing or installing? Drop us an email.
- “No pants needed”
- by Mike Cannings
- thinginmyhead.wordpress.com
- Download poster:
- Zipped PDF
Need help downloading, printing or installing? Drop us an email.
- “Ministry of Action!”
- by Mike Cannings
- thinginmyhead.wordpress.com
- Download poster:
- Zipped PDF
- Download wallpaper:
- Large (1920x1200)
- Small (1024x768)
Need help downloading, printing or installing? Drop us an email.
- “Wake Up : Walk Out”
- by Grant Davidson
- Download poster:
- Zipped PDF
Need help downloading, printing or installing? Drop us an email.