Greenpeace kicks up a storm of protest at failing climate talks

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Greenpeace staged an extreme weather event today for delegates at the UN climate talks.

With a mock storm of strong wind, thunder, lightening and rain outside the Barcelona climate conference centre, the event gave delegates a taste of the future if they don't create the right conditions for a fair, ambitious and binding climate deal. Greenpeace activists deployed a banner saying "Our climate, your decision".

The action highlights the urgent need for world leaders to sign a deal that protects the climate this year. If they don't, they will instead be signing a death warrant for millions of people.

Earlier this week African countries walked out of the talks in protest at the industrialized world's lack of science-based reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions. What is currently on offer from the developed world, they warned, could mean life or death for the world's most vulnerable countries.

Climate Action Network International, a network of more than 400 non-governmental organizations, has awarded Canada a first place Fossil of the Day award at the Barcelona conference for blocking and stalling these critical negotiations.

The conference in Barcelona is the last round of United Nations climate change negotiations before the UN's historic climate summit in Copenhagen from December 7 to 18.

Watch the Greenpeace weather event in Barcelona