Here’s the e-mail that just went out to our list–if you’ve not yet signed up for our e-mail updates, get them here: www.350.org/signup
Dear friends,
We have a number to share with you-not 350 this time, but 100.
At 8:43pm last night, when Madagascar showed up on our registered actions list, we passed the three-digit mark for countries where there will be events taking place on the 24th of October. That’s really quite amazing–with 100 countries and counting, this may end up being the most widespread day of climate activism the planet has ever seen.
That number matters–if the world is going to sign onto a global climate deal in Copenhagen this December strong enough to meet the science, we need to be putting pressure on every part of the world. And that pressure needs to come from every part of the world-Madagascar included.
In particular, we’re overjoyed at the participation by people in countries from the global south, the places that are already feeling the harmful effects of climate change. It’s incredibly important that countries like the US know that the rest of the world perceives this as a top issue for the planet, its first truly global challenge.
And so, we now need your help spreading the word even farther, to push on from 100 countries.
Below you’ll find a list of the countries where as of yet there is no action registered. Do you know someone in any of these countries? Does your church or synagogue or mosque or temple have contacts there? What about your professional society? University alumni group? Would you be willing to send an email like this to them, explaining 350 and asking them to join in by organizing some event, large or small, for the 24th of October?
We’ve included a sample e-mail below that you can forward on to people in the countries where no 350 actions are yet registered.
Thanks to the generous support of others, we can even make it easier with some tangible action assistance. We´ll send a small 350 organizing pack — stickers and a t-shirt — to the first person to register an event in an action-free country to help jumpstart the organizing effort.
Even for people who have never organized anything like this before, 350.org can help make the process fun and simple, and provide you with support every step of the way.
There are days when we almost can’t believe how well this campaign is coming together-that all over the world, people are providing the local leadership that will knit our global efforts into one movement. Spending so much time working to bring the number marking our carbon emissions down, it’s incredibly fun to celebrate another number going up.
Passing the 100-country milestone is an occasion for celebration-but also a good reminder that we want everyone at the table. So please, take a look at the list below and help us bring more countries on the map and into this global movement.
With many thanks,
Bill McKibben and the 350.org Organizing Team
P.S. As always, we ask that you take 30 seconds to share the good news (and the call to help out) on–it’s just one or two clicks to share on Facebook, Twitter, and beyond.
Even if you don’t know a single person that lives in the countries listed below, chances are that someone in your network does–so celebrate the 100 country milestone by inviting 100 friends to our Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/350.org) and keep on spreading the word every other way you can think of…
Countries With No Actions…Yet.
Do you know anyone who lives in any of the countries listed below? If so, forward the sample e-mail we’ve included below!
Europe
Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Finland
Iceland
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Moldova, Republic of
Monaco
Montenegro
San Marino
Slovakia
Vatican City State
Latin America
El Salvador
Carribean
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Aruba
Barbados
Bahamas
Belize
Cuba
Dominica
French Guiana
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guyana
Jamaica
Martinique
Montserrat
Netherlands Antilles
Saint Barthelemy
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Suriname
Turks and Caicos Islands
Virgin Islands, British
Virgin Islands, U.S.
Africa
Angola
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Cape Verde
Chad
Cote D’Ivoire
Djibouti
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Gabon
Gambia
Gibraltar
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Mauritania
Namibia
Sao Tome And Principe
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Sudan
Tunisia
Western Sahara
South Asia
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Bhutan
Middle East
Afghanistan
Bahrain
Saudi Arabia
East Asia
Cambodia
Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Macao
Pacific and the Polar Regions
Bouvet Island
British Indian Overseas Territory
Christmas Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Comorros
Cook Islands
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Faroe Islands
French Polynesia
French Southern Territories
Greenland
Heard Island and Mcdonald Islands
Kiribati
Marshall Islands
Mauritius
Mayotte
Micronesia, Federated States of
New Caledonia
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands
Palau
Pitcairn
Reunion
Saint Helena
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Seychelles
Solomon Islands
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Tokelau
Tonga
Vanuatu
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Sample E-Mail you can forward to people who live in the countries listed above
I know that you’re concerned about climate change–and I happen to know that you’re in the perfect place to take extremely powerful action.
You see, on October 24 of this year 350.org is sponsoring a huge day of global events to ask for progress on climate change that gets the planet back to 350 parts per million of CO2 – the number that scientists agree is a safe level for climate polution our atmosphere. It looks like October 24th might well be the most widespread day of environmental action ever. Already there are 1,400 events scheduled in over 100 countries on Earth.
But not everywhere. Not yet. Which is where you come in.
350.org can make it extremely easy to organize something for that day. It doesn’t need to be a huge rally, just some kind of public event that shows you and your fellow citizens’ concern about climate change. If you email us back, we’ll send you the materials you need to get started, and provide all the support we can. Even if you’ve never organized anything like this before, we can help make the process fun and simple.
It will help the cause enormously to be able to say: for the first time, people in all countries are united around the same goal, and asking for the same action. It will be a day of great power, and we hope very much you’ll be willing to be a part of it. Many decision-makers don’t know there’s a truly global climate movement, and so they don’t feel a sense of global pressure to make a strong deal at the United Nations Climate Meeting in Copenhagen this December. We can show them how broad and diverse the movement is on October 24!
To help you get started, if you´re the first person to sign up in your country, 350.org will send you a little 350 organizing pack – some stickers and a t-shirt to help you initiate building the movement in your country. Whether you’re a veteran organizer and environmentalist, or just getting involved, they can help you every step of the way. And they are very responsive by email and phone, so you can contact them if you need to.
Want to lead the way in your country? Here’s how:
1. Make sure there are no actions already registered in your country: visit www.350.org/action-list, use the menu to select your country name and press the "search for actions" button.
2. Register your action at www.350.org/oct24 There are just three things necessary for an action – that it be a public event of some kind (a march, festival, or workshop for example), that it make the number 350 visible in some way, and that you document your action with a photo to upload to 350.org and show the world that your community is ready for climate action. Here are some additional ideas, and a simple 9-step plan for action: www.350.org/ideas www.350.org/9steps
3.Send an email to [email protected] with the subject line "First Action in [Your Country]," and include your name, address, and a brief description of what you plan to do in your country so they can send you an organizing pack.
4. – Plan your action. Check out the 350 site for downloadable guides, promotional materials, and more and be in touch with us with any questions!
Thanks so much for becoming a leader for climate action — together, as one global movement, we can make October 24th a day to change the course of our planet.