Campaigners to send pre-summit message

THE CUSTOM House in Dublin, headquarters of the Department of the Environment, is being targeted by Christian Aid for a “mass…

THE CUSTOM House in Dublin, headquarters of the Department of the Environment, is being targeted by Christian Aid for a “mass visual trespass” tomorrow demanding action by the Government on climate change.

The event, which will involve projecting high-resolution images on the building at 5.30pm, is claimed to be “without precedent as a campaigning tool” here.

The Stop Climate Chaos coalition is organising The Wave, a mass demonstration tomorrow in Dublin city centre, two days before the UN climate change summit opens in Copenhagen. It will coincide with actions in Belfast, Berlin, Brussels, Glasgow, London and Paris.

The group expects it to be the biggest climate demonstration ever held in Ireland. Spokesman Gavin Harte said it was clear that “the terrible flooding happening around the country fit[s] the pattern of what the science predicts”; such events would become “more frequent if we don’t act”.

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The demonstration will start outside the Custom House and end at Government Buildings on Upper Merrion Street. It would be “colourful and powerful, with all participants wearing blue to represent the upsurge of public opinion for a fair and safe global deal in Copenhagen”.

The organisers of the 10:10 campaign aimed at reducing Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions by 10 per cent in 2010 are asking for this weekend’s Christmas tree lighting ceremonies to be delayed for 10 minutes as a “symbolic gesture”.

Campaign manager John Hesnan said: “We can all help in reducing our country’s emissions with small and simple changes.”