"Change your life, not climate”

Today at 12 AM was the date chosen by the Citizens' Platform for Climate Change to celebrate in the streets of Madrid the 40th World Earth Day, which was on Thursday 22. This platform, which brings together environmental organizations, neighborhood groups, trade unions, citizens' and political organizations, protests today against climate change between Jacinto Benavente Square and Reina Sofia Museum.

Under a scorching sun that reminds to the images that the NASA (see video below) has offered in commemoration of Earth Day, thousands of protesters stirred up the street with their slogans and colored banners. With music everywhere, various associations walk together across the whole width of the street, behind the main banner that began to walk at 12:30 to Atocha Street.


Finally, in the square in front of the entrance to the Reina Sofia Museum, several speakers read the Manifesto for Earth Day 2010. It requires to the governments that environmental issues must be more present in their agendas. They also note that the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen in 2009 was a fiasco in which United Nations did not reach the goal: all the countries failed to reach any productive agreement. And all this without the police repression suffered by the activists of various NGOs for trying to protest.

Despite this, the organizers say that the United Nations is the only one that can carry out an agreement, because otherwise other countries would make unnecessary and partisan negotiations, surely among the most powerful states. "Rich countries must assume their responsibility in causing climate change," said an activist as he read the manifesto.

As a primary objective to be achieved, these organizations advocate limiting global warming to 2 degrees above pre-industrial temperature, or what is the same, stop the greenhouse effect and CO2 emissions. They urge the Spanish Government to make "this country a part of the solution, not the climate change problem."

To do this, they propose the introduction of renewable energy sources, which in addition to ending the climate crisis would be a great relief to the economic crisis. After this reading, the demonstration ends with more music at two in the afternoon.

Within minutes, people had already been dissolved, waiting another year to return to celebrate this day. But what is truly important is to remember the Earth not only today but for the other 364 days of the year.