Speaking today at London's 350 event. Photo by Mary Kadzielski.

Two phrases you don’t hear every day:

“Can I film your breasts?”

“Are you, like, a coccyx?”

The first was from a guy holding a large video camera, and was prompted by the fact I was wearing a t-shirt with the numbers “350” emblazoned across the front in bold type. “I’m not a pervert or anything,” he went on to say, somewhat less than convincingly, as he aimed his lens at my chest.

The second was from a young woman with a big smile and black dreadlocks. After I’d stood on a chair and bellowed into a megaphone to address the crowd at the London Eye, she came over to say she’d loved my speech. “You had me rolling with laughter.” I think she was referring to my comment that, “If I can row 3,000 miles across an ocean for climate change, then you can remember to turn off the lights when you leave a room.” I’m not quite sure hilarity was the desired effect, but maybe the sustainability movement needs a little humor once in a while.

In turn she made me smile when she doubtfully regarded my petite frame and said, “So are you, like, a coccyx that yells at the other people in the boat to row harder?”

Well, coccyx or coxswain, I suppose I am indeed concerned with getting people to try harder…

350 underwater in the Maldives

And that was the feeling that I took away from today’s 350 event. I am not talking about the organizers trying harder – Abi Edgar and the heroes of the Campaign Against Climate Change could not humanly have given it any more than they did today. And today has on many levels been an amazing success. According to the 350 website, people in 181 countries have staged over 5200 events to express their concern over climate change. I am sure that by the end of these amazing 24 hours, many more people will be aware of the number 350 and what it means.

But as I sat on the train on the way home, I thought about the day and whether it had succeeded. There were a lot of people there – fantastic. But there were also a lot of people NOT there, people whose Saturdays were business as usual – shopping, drinking coffee, hanging out with friends. There are 8 million people in London – why weren’t they ALL here?!

Maybe I’m just in a cup-half-empty mood – the hectic days and short nights of the book tour have finally caught up with me and I spent most of today in bed apart from the couple of hours at the London Eye – but instead of celebrating the numbers that turned up at the rally, my mind was on the absentees. My perception is that there is still too much apathy, fear and denial amongst the general public.

Will today turn out to be just another masturbatory exhibition by those who are already environmentally aware, while most people continue in ignorance of our climate crisis? Climate change affects everybody – how can we get everybody to care?

350 in Sunderbans, India

We need a shared POSITIVE vision of our green future. We need to get away from the language of sacrifice and inconvenience, and towards the language of excitement, opportunity, and potential. I am currently reading “The Great Transition”, a report by the new economics foundation, which presents a powerfully attractive picture of a sustainable world. We need more of the same. At the moment we are still focusing on the problem (climate change) rather than the solution (sustainability). And the majority of people don’t need another problem – they have enough of their own already. The sooner we make this paradigm shift towards the positive, the better.

Other Stuff:

The other speaker today was Bianca Jagger. She arrived late and discombobulated, her driver having been confused by the closure of various nearby roads and bridges, while I smugly arrived by public transport, early and relaxed… The perils of being rich and famous, hey?

My speech (or at least, what I wish I’d said):

I row across oceans to inspire people to take action on climate change. Something the ocean has taught me is that any challenge, no matter how huge, can be tackled if you break it down into little steps. When I rowed across the Atlantic it took me about a million oarstrokes. One stroke doesn’t get me very far, but you take a million tiny actions and you string them all together and you get across 3000 miles of ocean. You can achieve almost anything, if you just take it one stroke at a time.

And it’s the same with climate change. On a day like today, when we feel part of a huge global community, it’s easy to believe we can change the world. But there will be other days when maybe we feel alone, and that anything we do as individuals won’t really make a difference – that it’s just a drop in the ocean.

But every action counts. We all have it in our power to make a difference. In fact, we’re already making a difference – it’s just up to us to decide if it’s a good one or a bad one. Every time we switch the lights off, or choose to walk instead of drive, or say no to a plastic bag, it matters.

So we’re leading the way. Thank you all for making a difference for the better. Keep up the good work, have a fantastic 350 day, and together we’ll keep changing the world, heading towards a greener future, one stroke at a time.

Me with the UK's Secretary of State for the Environment and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, in London last night.

Watch the video – 350.org – In Every Corner Of The Globe

Saturday, Oct 24 is a global day of action on climate change organized by 350.org. The event is turning into a phenomenon – their website is already showing an amazing outpouring of positive action all around the world since the day of action started in the mid-Pacific several hours ago.

I am a 350.org Athlete, so this is a big day for me – so what will I be doing? I shall be in London for the Bigger Picture – Festival of Interdependence, and in Jubilee Gardens underneath the London Eye for the main 350 event, speaking alongside Bianca Jagger. After she and I have delivered our words I will join the assembled hordes to form a giant figure “5” to go with the “3” and the “0” in other major cities around the world.

The weather forecast isn’t great (I mean for London for tomorrow, as well as for the world for the foreseeable future…), but hopefully our intrepid eco-warriors will not be deterred by a little drizzle – after all, if I can row across oceans for climate change, there are no excuses! If you’re in town, come and join us!

And if you’re not in town, then sign the online petition here.

I’m also quite proud that I was instrumental in the last-minute addition of Kiribati to the list of 175 nations taking part. Thank you to John and Linda Anderson of Kiribati Video for making it happen.

Here’s what 350.org founder Bill McKibben has to say about tomorrow…

“Saturday’s the day — October 24, the International Day of Climate Action. So join the nearest 350 action knowing you’ll be part of something big. 

Very big, in fact. This campaign has gone viral–there will be over four thousand events taking place simultaneously in over 175 nations. As far as we can tell, you’ll be part of the single most widespread day of political action about any issue that our planet has ever seen.

There are too many incredible events to list in one place, but here are some of the highlights:

In Cambodia, citizens from across the country will gather at the famous Angkor Wat to take a giant 350 action photo.

In Hungary, hundreds of bathers will jump into the public baths in Budapest and do a 350 synchronized swimming performance.

In Nepal, over a thousand young people and monks will march to the Swayambhunath world heritage site temple where they will form a large 350 with traditional lanterns.

In the United States, 350 people will dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller in Seattle — because if we don’t stop global warming, we might as well be undead.

In Panama, indigenous youth will lead a moonlight vigil in Kuna Yala, their vulnerable low-lying islands off the coast of Panama, forming a 350 at sunrise.

When you’re out there marching or rallying, biking or kite-flying, singing or taking part in whatever is going on in your community, take a minute and try to imagine all the other people doing the same kind of things all around the world–every one taking the same basic scientific fact and driving it into the public consciousness.

350 is the most important number in the world–scientists have told us that it’s the most carbon dioxide we can have in the atmosphere, and now we’re making sure everyone knows.  We’ll be taking photos from all the events, projecting them on the big screens in New York’s Times Square, and delivering them to major media outlets and  hundreds of world leaders in the coming weeks.  The combined noise from these events will ensure that world leaders who gather next month at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen to create the world’s new plan on climate change will hear our call.  They will know that when negotiating the fate of our planet, there is a passionate movement out there which will hold them accountable.

After your event on Saturday, check out www.350.org, where we will show a glorious slideshow of photos from events in every corner of the earth. Be proud of what you’ve accomplished.

And if you have any doubts about where the fun in your neighborhood is on Saturday, check out this link to find an event near you.

Onwards,

Bill McKibben for the 350.org crew”