About 15,000 people rallied in Sydney on Saturday as part of a global day of action to send a message to leaders at the Copenhagen climate change conference.
The protesters, who marched from Martin Place to the Botanical Gardens, urged politicians to take more concrete steps to tackle global warming.
According to the Nature Conservation Council, about 80,000 people took part in the walk across Australia.
Max Phillips, climate campaigner for the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, said the event would send a message to world leaders that ordinary people are very worried about climate change.
“It’s important for events like ‘Walk Against Warming’ to send a strong message to balance the message people are getting from some of the fossil fuel lobby,” Mr Phillips said.
“They’ve got the ear of government right now, and it’s important for ordinary people to come out onto the streets to let them know that there will be potentially electoral repercussions if they don’t provide for us that final future.”
“I think there’s a lot of suspicion, and probably rightly so, that the developed countries are going to try and weasel out of agreeing to strong binding targets and an equitable treaty. But our basic message is that the climate can’t wait while politicians make excuses.”
Bondi resident David Evenden said he was happy to show his support for real action on climate change. “It’s good to get onto the streets so that the politicians can see what people think,” Mr Evenden said.
He urged Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to launch a campaign to educate Australians on what they can do to cut their carbon footprint. “What he needs to do is to tell the Australian people that they need to change the way they live and that it is going to cause some pain, but that we’ve got to do it.”
“I mean I’m not a total savior, but I ride a bike most of the time. I try not to use the car too much.”
Dulwich Hill resident Gabriel Richter, 20, said he was marching in support of Greenpeace. “I don’t know much about Copenhagen but it’s very important of course,” Mr Richter said.
“The danger is very real. Like today you can see that it’s very hot, especially in countries like Australia. We can take action by using solar power in our house or recycling or take the bus instead of the car every time.”
by Ehssan Veiszadeh
