Environmental Action Day in History

Hohoe, Oct. 10, GNA - Over 7,000 events are expected to take place in 188 countries for the 10/10/10 (triple ten) "Global Work Party", making the 10th of October, 2010, the most memorable day of environmental action in the planet's history. It is aimed at creating global awareness in the implementation of practical measures towards the reduction in the impact of climate change on the environment and humans.

The campaign takes its name from the goal of reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from its current level of 390 parts per million (ppm) to below 350 ppm, the safe upper limit declared by scientists. Dr. Bill McKibben, a renowned environmental author and lead organiser of the Global World Party (GWP) project, said in a release made available to the Ghana News Agency that politicians may be debating climate change but citizens are getting to work towards mitigating its effects on the environment.

It envisaged that an estimated 100,000 trees would be planted, over 1,000 solar panels installed, hundreds of homes and buildings weatherised, cyclists riding over 1,000 miles, citizens cleaning up at least 500 miles of coastline, hoping that this effort would engender the necessary political change to steer mitigation measures. It indicated some African countries would mark the day with multiplicity of environmental sustaining activities including tree planting, musical carnivals, cycling races, donations and climate change educational programmes.

It said Kenya would mainstream tree planting to 'knock out climate change,' while in the Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria, a world record attempt was being harnessed to make the largest painting out of 200,000 individual paintings towards raising awareness on climate change. In the Namib Desert in southwestern Namibia, a remote education and research centre would complete its transition to 100% fossil fuel-free power in the oldest desert in the world with Port Elizabeth in South Africa marking the triple 10 with the release of rehabilitated African Penguins which were affected by oil pollution in their original habitat. The statement was however silent on activities of Ghana. It stated that in the United States, over 1,200 events are planned, from parishioners weatherizing their church in Atlanta to a hip-hop show at a community garden in Oakland , California . China and India marks the day with over 300 universities participating in the Great Power Race, a student clean energy competition with the mayor of the Mexico city signing a commitment to cut carbon emissions by 10 per cent over the next year and join thousands for a solar-powered festival in Chapultepec Park. The statement said Russian and Croatian organizers have signed up nearly 10,000 schools to plant trees. Just days before the GWP, the Obama Administration gave the campaign a big boost on Wednesday with its announcement that solar panels would soon be installed on the White House. The Global Work Party has been endorsed by a wide variety of organizations and individuals, from United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to actress Ellen Page, star of Juno and Inception, to United Nations Climate Chief, Dr. Christina Figueres. Speaking from the UN climate meetings in Tianjin, China, Dr. Figueres praised GWP for their foresight and continued inspiring work. "When citizens are inspired to take action, it is easier for governments to initiate real climate change action. That is exactly what governments need to rally around urgently. They need to be determined to arrive at compromises that move the world towards winning the battle against climate change", he stressed. 10.10.10