Berlin 350 Re-Cap
October 24, 2009, was an amazing day in Berlin and, from what I can tell, around the world at over 5200 events in 181 countries.
There were a few major events in Berlin.
- 350, the Show. Put on by the Klimapiraten (Climate Pirates) and the Kampagne Klimakanzlerin gesucht (Climate Chancellor Sought Campaign of the Klimaallianz, GermanWatch & Avaaz), this short theatrical show in front of the Brandenburg Gate was highly successful despite some last minute changes to the program.
The initial idea that we had was to have a casting show (like American Idol) to seek out the true Climate Chancellor, a title Angela Merkel likes to give herself despite doing little for the climate, amidst 350 people with Merkel masks on. At the end, a Climate Pirate from 2050 would deliver the true Climate Chancellor 350 roses and a note thanking her for all the right steps she took at Copenhagen in 2009 that led to a sustainable, beautiful world in 2050. I was always a bit uncertain of whether we could pull this final messaging off – how could we make it clear that we were thanking a Merkel that we’d like to see and not the real, current Merkel; how could we be sure to convey the 2050/time-traveler aspect? Luckily, in the last few days before the event, others made the decision to overhaul the program despite already sending out the press releases and mobilization emails. (I was unable to make the final planning meetings due to class and a trip to Bonn for a scholarship retreat.)
Our new show, which I first caught word of AT the event on Saturday morning, was much easier to handle. We had our 350 volunteer Merkels as the studio audience and split inner-conscience of Angela Merkel during a studio interview. The messaging changed to “The time for uncertainty is over” and we left Merkel saying “Jein” (yes/no) at the end followed by the rest of us saying “Act! Now!” The 15-minute show was perhaps still a bit long for most reporters to take note of all the details, but the masks were great and got us in as one of the nine featured events in the New York Times slideshow. I call that success.
- Deletion of 350 tons worth of emissions credits. At the end of the 350 show, we tagged on another action put on by the Compensators, in which they popped a balloon labelled “350t CO2″. Once popped, 350 slips of paper, each representing one ton of CO2 pollution that the Compensators and donors had purchased out of the European Union Emission Trading Scheme, flew out like confetti.
- Carrotmob. After some tear-down and clean-up, a bunch of the Climate Pirates headed over to Eve & Adam’s organic salad and smoothie bar to enjoy a refreshing lunch. The little restaurant committed 45% of proceeds to energy efficiency improvements and boy did it pay off! Carrotmobbers enjoying any of the tasty menu items including a special carrot and ginger soup for 350 cents more than doubled the restaurant’s record daily income.
- Silent Climate Parade. Honestly, going into this event, I was a bit skeptical and I only intended to show up, take a bit of video, and go home. I was given one of the 350 wireless Sennheiser headphones, though, and was quickly sucked in to the awesomeness of this event! The idea here was that 350 ravers listening to live techno music being played by Dr. Motte, the man behind Berlin’s famous Love Parade in the 90s, would dance and party through the streets of Berlin, from Potsdamer Platz to Alexanderplatz.
Honestly, this was the most fun protest/action/whatever that I’ve ever participated in. Basically, it was bunch of youth partying in the middle of the main streets in downtown Berlin. Like getting into a very underground or elite club, we with headphones were rocking out to sweet jams that no one else could hear. Passers-by were quite perplexed, so we handed out 5,000 fliers explaining the event: greenhouse gas emissions are a mostly silent problem, but if we listen to the scientists, it is clear that our politicians have been too silent on the issue of climate change.
Many of the people on Unter den Linden are tourists, so I volunteered to help deliver the German fliers and had one ear out to try to identify non-German speakers who might want an explanation in English. I talked to dozens of people, giving a full 2- or 3-minute explanation to maybe 20 people, and they were all captivated by and supportive of the Silent Climate Parade and broader 350.org message.
A chance meeting with an old friend who lives in another part of Germany and the adrenaline rush from dancing through the streets certainly helped make this one of the best days of my life. However, I think it was seeing all the volunteers behind their Merkel masks at the Show, all the hungry activists at the Carrotmob, and all the energized youth and interested bystanders at the Silent Climate Parade – at least a thousand of us, all behind the call for 350ppm – was really what made this day a day to remember.
I was lucky enough to have had access to a wonderful new HD camcorder and edited this little highlights video together before hitting up the 350 After-party on Saturday night (also a fun time, hah). Click to view the video at Vimeo.com to see it in HD.
Berlin 350 International Day of Action Highlights from Valida Prentice on Vimeo.
Did you organize or participate in a 350 International Day of Climate Action event? How did it go?
