GDA history
The Global Climate Campaign
is the collective name given to all the organisations, groups and individuals around the world who come together for the Global Day of Action on climate.
The Global Day of Action
on climate has occurred every year since 2005 at the time of the annual United Nations Talks on climate change ( the COP or "Conference of Parties" to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or UNFCCC). People from all around the world have come together on the same day to demand urgent action on climate, and climate justice, from the governments of the world meeting at the annual climate talks. Obviously it's not possible for thousands of people from all around the world to come together literally in the same place so the Global Day of Action has consisted of demonstrations and events all around the world on the same day - or as near as possible to that as circumstances allow. Usually that day has been the Saturday midway through the climate talks.
History of the Global Day of Action
Global Day of Action 2005
The first attempt to organise international demonstrations on climate was actually in February 2005 at the time of the coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol (February16th). This saw a smattering of events around the world mainly on 12th February (the Saturday before the 16th which was a Wednesday) including a demonstration of a thousand plus in London and events in Brussells, Kyoto in Japan and Athens.
The first Global Day of Action on climate was on December 3rd 2005 during the Montreal Climate Talks. There were tens of thousands of demonstrators in Montreal itself, ten thousand in London, maybe up to ten thousand all around Australia (3,000 in Sydney), four thousand in Turkey (Istanbul, Izmir, Anchara), hundreds in Finland, South Korea, Bangladesh and Mexico and demonstrations or events in 20+ countries.overall.
You can see the pages for the Global Day of Action 2005 here
Global Day of Action 2006
The second Global Day of Action on climate was held on 4th November 2006. This was actually the Saturday of the weekend just before the Nairobi climate talks. In actual fact the demonstration in Nairobi itself occurred on the 11th November, the Saturday midway through the talks and the same was true in a few other places like Dhaka in Bangaldesh.
The outstanding event of the 2006 GDA was the "Walks against Warming" around Australia in which almost 100,000 took part with around 40,000 in Sydney and Melbourne. Meanwhile around 30,000 demonstrated in London, and thousands also around 20+ locations in France, in Bolivia, Finland, Turkey and in Nairobi, itself, in Kenya. Hundreds more were active all around the US, in Taiwan, Belgium, Bangaladesh, Canada, New Zealan, Panama and other places with events and demonstrations in 30+ countries overall.
In 2007 demonstrations were held throughout the world to coincide with the UN Climate Talks held from 3rd - 14th December 2007 in Bali, Indonesia. The Global Day of Action was on the Saturday midway through, December 8th 2007. There was huge increase in the number of events and demonstrations occuring around the world with 70+ countries taking part..
Actions were held on every continent, showing a global will for action on climate change. Some nations emerged for the first time as centres of climate activism. In Nepal, 3,000 demonstrated, while 2,000 attended the first big climate rally in the Arab World in Beirut. In Africa, there were events in 11 coutries including 500 Senegalese who attended a rally near Dakar. Over 1,000 mobilized in New Delhi while hundreds more participated in smaller events across India.
Established nations mobilized in force once again, with over 7,000 in London, 10,000 in Germany, 10,000 in Taiwan and 4,000 in Belgium. 3,000 attended a demonstration in Toronto and 600 in Vancouver while there were 30 actions throughout Canada. 5,000 people marched in Athens in response to this year's catastrophic forest fires.
Global Day of Action 2008
The fourth Global Day of Action on climate took place on 6th December 2008, on the Saturday midway through the UN Climate Talks, held this year in Poznan, Poland. More than 60 countries were involved across 6 continents.
Despite the fact that many were saving their big effort for the following years Climate Talks in Copenhagen in 2009 - perceived as the really important make-or break meeting of the UNFCCC - thousands came out onto the streets on 6th December 2008: 8,000 or so in the UK, 3,000 in India, 2,500 or so across Bangladesh despite a ban on rallies, 5,000 in nearly every province of Bolivia, and thousands across Australia, the USA, Canada, Taiwan and Belgium.
In Poznan, itself, Poland saw its biggest climate demonstration so far with 1500 people involved - a badly needed boost to the climate campaign in that country. In Africa several new countries became involved like Malawi, Ghana, the Gambia and Zimbabwe - while hundreds demonstrated in countries which are now 'regulars' for the Global Day of Action like Senegal and Kenya.
There was the usual variety of events with a bike ride in Jordan, a colourful parade in New Caledonia in the Pacific and a festival in New Zealand. In Denmark hundreds came out to protest but there, already, people were making preparations for a really massive event to mark next years critical talks, in Copenhagen in December 2009.
Global Day of Action 2009
The fifth Global Day of Action on climate took place on 12th December 2009 .It was a huge success demonstrating the rapid mushrooming of a massive global movement in reponse to the unparalleled threat we face from the catastrophic destabilisation of global climate and the seeming inability of the world's leaders to do anything effective about it.
There was a magnificent demonstration of 100,000 or so people from all around the world in Copenhagen, itself, at the actual location of the UN Climate Talks.
This included substantial numbers from nearby countries of North West Europe in many of which the 'national' demonstration had been timed for 5th December, a week earler, so as to allow people to concentrate purely on building the big Copenhagen demo on the 12th. This earlier wave of demonstrations had included a spectacular 50,000 strong march in London, a 15,000 strong demonstration in Brussels, an 8,000 strong protest in Glasgow, Scotland, a 2,000 strong noisy protest in Paris and further events in Dublin, Ireland, Belfast, Northen Ireland, Berlin and other places around Germany and Stockholm and other places around Sweden.
On the 12th itself the 100,000 in Copenhagen were matched by another 100,000 all around Australia (with 40,000 in Melbourne alone) and other substantial events like the 'Beat the Heat' rally in the Netherlands with 10,000, demonstrations in Madrid and New Delhi 5,000 or so strong (with further demonstrations in around 20 other locations around India) and thousands more in places like Nepal, Bangladesh and South Africa.
Meanwhile with the active involvement this year of a new international coalition of NGOs - the 'Global Campaign for Climate Action', and the newly formed "350" organisation there was a vast number of smaller actions ( maybe 3,000 ?) in just about every country of the world. These mainly took the form of "Vigils for a Real Deal" under the Tck Tck Tck brand or candlelight vigils under the '350'banner - but there were also plenty of other actions (or ones that mixed various elements of the internationally coordinated campaigns).
Global Day of Action 2010
In Australia on the 4th Climate Camp activists were chaining themselves to coal carrying conveyor belts while the bold direct action at the centre of the country’s coal power industry climaxed in a Day of Action, the following day. The Pacific was not left out with a climate exhibition in New Caledonia. In Canada there was a Peoples Assembly for Climate Justice in Toronto while local actions took place in New Jersey and Florida in the US. In South America events included a mass and celebration for the planet in Venezuela..