Geneva, 21 August 2009 – The world governing body for track and field today endorsed a major initiative of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to build support for a global agreement on climate change.
The initiative, called the Global Alliance for Climate Justice, is operated by the Global Humanitarian Forum, a Geneva-based organization headed by Annan. The Global Alliance for Climate Justice is a leading element in the Forum’s work to bring the world together to solve humanitarian problems. The initiative is building an international network of supporters to pressure politicians to reach a global, just and binding climate-change agreement at UN talks in Copenhagen, Denmark in December.
Lamine Diack, President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and a “Climate Ally” of the Alliance, encouraged the track and field world to get behind the initiative. “I strongly urge the global athletics family across the 213 IAAF Member Federations to engage with this project and the initiatives it is promoting,” he said. “Only by acting now will we have a chance to bring our planet back into balance and secure a future for our children and grandchildren.”
The IAAF is the main organizer of the World Championships in Athletics in Berlin that started on August 15th and will last until August 23rd.
“We are excited to have Mr. Diack and the IAAF as supporters of our work,” said Walter Fust, Director General of the Global Humanitarian Forum. “The thousands of athletes who compete under IAAF can be very effective persuaders of their governments that the millions of people who suffer from climate change need their help at Copenhagen.”
The tck tck tck Time for Climate Justice campaign, at www.timeforclimatejustice.org, is the first initiative of the Global Alliance and aims to unite the world behind the need for a strong agreement at Copenhagen. The main component of the campaign is the online human clock that is ticking down the seconds until the Copenhagen talks begin. By saying “tck” into a video camera and uploading the recording to the campaign’s web site, anyone can support the Time for Climate Justice campaign and join high-profile personalities such as Jet Li, Lily Allen, Rajendra Pachauri and Lamine Diack in the pursuit of climate justice.