G'day guys.
So what are everyone’s thoughts on large-scale climate change rally’s or protests? Do these sort of actions get through to governments and the public or are they token events that just appear briefly in the public conscious then die away?
Do these kinds of events happen in your country? Does it result in changes to policy or raise public awareness?
I recently attended this rally (see link below) in Melbourne (Australia), and the vibe was very positive and energetic. I think it was an important event, just to feel like you were part of a change and campaign for awareness.
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/crowd-spells-out-feeling-about-climate-change-20090517-b7dc.html
What are your thoughts?
Cheers
Anthony from Melbourne
Hi Anthony,
ReplyDeleteThere are no rallys in Singapore due to strict government restrictions about street protests and gatherings. We do however have a "Speakers Corner" where people are allowed freedom of speech. Unfortunately, in other public spaces you would need a license to protest. This was the case for the World Bank meeting in Singapore in 2006.
In any case, I believe that rallys such as the one you have mentioned so help in raising the awareness and it gets some media attention and helps to spread the urgency of the climate change issue today.. However, there isn't any real action and the media becomes a tool whereby such issues can be played up or down according to the "news-worthiness" of the issue. Climate change needs real policies and real solutions and while rallys can help to raise the level of awareness, it can also distort the facts and bring across the wrong message.
Melissa/Singapore
Hey
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the Melbourne rally. I missed hearing about that one and it looks cool.
Ben