You Are Here:
The voice of Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan booms out across a skating rink packed with people. They are dressed in olive green or sky blue and their bodies make up a giant map of the world.
Kofi is saying: "Tck Tck Tck."
It's a recording. On his final Tck, music starts and the people start to run and leap until their bodies form a giant hourglass.
There are more than 2,000 people here: men, women, mothers, fathers, babies and friends who are part of a giant human clock.
They are sending a message aimed at world leaders – including Chinese President Hu Jintao -- who are meeting here in New York to talk about climate change in just two days. Their message: time is running out to stop climate change.
Many of them are activists from environmental groups but many also are just passers by: families and students and retirees just strolling in the park who saw the activity and volunteered.
They represent a growing number of members of the American public who are worried about climate change and want to see concerted global action now.
The UN has arranged a meeting at Copenhagen in December where the hope is that countries agree on how they are going to cut greenhouse emissions and how to help each other achieve that.
The meeting in New York this Tuesday 22 is the last big chance that so many top leaders are together to talk about the climate before Copenhagen.
The event is organized by Tck Tck Tck, a global alliance of civil society including Oxfam, pushing heads of state to go to Copenhagen and make a good deal.
New Yorker Elizabeth O’Connell was taking part even though she had just finished a half-marathon that morning.
“I think it’s a really cool and visual way to represent their message,” she says. The 23-year-old fundraiser for a Cambodian charity says she has hope that leaders will make a climate-saving deal at Copenhagen because the issue has really captured the public’s attention. People want their governments to take action.
“It’s crucial that governments make enforceable policies to reduce emissions,” she says. “Even though I have energy-saving light bulbs and I try to recycle but these small actions aren’t big enough now. We need governments to hammer out a plan.”
