Climate March.
Nov. 28th, 2015 03:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhythmaningI went in the Climate March, in the rain. I got to the Meadows late, and the March had started, so I stayed where I was and let the March catch me up.
Surprisingly, my friends saw me standing, and we then marched down to Princes St Gardens.
It was, frankly, a huge march - at least by Edinburgh standards. Several thousand people.
It was a very friendly crowd, lots of smiling faces.
I can't help feeling slightly cynical about it, though. I have been on several climate marches - notably ahead of the Copenhagen summit in 2009, but also last year and before - and I'm not sure what we've accomplished.
On the other hand, it is much better to go on a march than not, because climate change isn't going away, and one must make one's voice heard however one can.
I was chatting with one of the march's organisers, a friend of a friend, who is going over to Paris as a delegate at the forthcoming climate summit, and who was also at Copenhagen. He sees today's march as a way of influencing politicians and the civil servants (who actually do the negotiating) ahead of the talks. And it's his job to influence them during the negotiations next week.
We can only wish them all luck!
Surprisingly, my friends saw me standing, and we then marched down to Princes St Gardens.
It was, frankly, a huge march - at least by Edinburgh standards. Several thousand people.
It was a very friendly crowd, lots of smiling faces.
I can't help feeling slightly cynical about it, though. I have been on several climate marches - notably ahead of the Copenhagen summit in 2009, but also last year and before - and I'm not sure what we've accomplished.
On the other hand, it is much better to go on a march than not, because climate change isn't going away, and one must make one's voice heard however one can.
I was chatting with one of the march's organisers, a friend of a friend, who is going over to Paris as a delegate at the forthcoming climate summit, and who was also at Copenhagen. He sees today's march as a way of influencing politicians and the civil servants (who actually do the negotiating) ahead of the talks. And it's his job to influence them during the negotiations next week.
We can only wish them all luck!