04 June 2009

The United Nations is leading a powerful new campaign to encourage governments to seal the deal on a fair, balanced and effective climate agreement - and volunteers can make a difference.

The Seal the Deal! campaign is mobilizing civil society along with political leaders and the business sector on an ambitious, global scale to raise a strong call for urgent and united action on climate change.

The campaign aims to encourage governments when they meet in Copenhagen this December to reach an agreement on climate change that protects people and the planet and promotes a global green economy.

If you would like to show your support with the campaign, you can:

• Adopt the Seal the Deal! call by making it the theme or slogan of your organization’s planned climate change campaigns in 2009. Download the logo from the campaign website.
• Record a videogram and upload it to the campaign website. 
• Sign the Petition for Seal the Deal! online – or visit an event where you can dip the "People’s Seal" in ink and stamp the global petition.

Campaign activities include:

• A global tree-planting drive for World Environment Day on 5 June 2009.
• A call to all organizations to make Seal the Deal!
• Seal the Deal! rallies around the world where supporters can dip the 'People’s Seal' in paint and add their stamp to a global petition.
• Seal the Deal! Climate Week – 20-26 September 2009 – targeting 100 cities around the world.

The latest data shows our climate is changing more rapidly than estimated in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. Millions of people are already suffering from the effects of climate change, and hundreds of millions more could be affected if something is not done immediately.

The campaign stresses that the agreement in Copenhagen needs to deliver on at least five points:

• What industrialized countries will do, through individual targets, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
• What developing countries will do to limit the growth of their emissions;
• On finance, since developing countries cannot be expected to act on this issue without financial support;
• On governance, there needs to be an efficient institutional mechanism for disbursing these funds and an equitable, accountable governance structure;
• A framework must be established that will bolster the climate resilience of vulnerable countries and protect lives and livelihoods.

The campaign points out that combating climate change is an investment with strong returns, today and for many generations to come, and reminds people that delays and inaction will only make matters worse for millions of people, thus urging people to show their support with the campaign by taking action today.

For more information, please write to: sealthedeal@unep.org
Or visit: www.sealthedeal2009.org