Eastbourne Greenpeace volunteers mark Great Big Green Week

Great Big Green Week, which ran from September 18–26, was held to raise awareness of the climate crisis and included more than 2,000 events taking place across the UK.

On September 25 the Eastbourne volunteers took part in the carnival parade, walking through the town with banners and a polar bear costume.

Greenpeace says it wants the government to lead global ambition for climate action at the upcoming UN climate conference in Glasgow.

Volunteers collected 30 messages from local people about the hopes they have for a greener future, and what they’d like the Glasgow conference to achieve.

Messages from people all over the UK will be displayed at the conference for world leaders to see.

The Eastbourne group also crafted their own message – ‘Eastbourne Greenpeace say act now’ – onto a huge tapestry map of the UK, which will be carried during the march in Glasgow on November 6.

Results will be released this month about the outcome of a survey volunteers carried out on passers-by to get their views of the government’s actions around climate change.

Group member Evie Sier said, “On Saturday, I joined other Greenpeace Eastbourne group volunteers to talk to people from the local area about the action they want our government to lead at the Glasgow climate summit this autumn.

“We’ve seen a summer of extreme weather, with fires, heatwaves and floods causing hundreds of deaths across the world. And the recent UN report into climate change gave us the starkest warning yet that action is needed urgently.

“However, people I spoke to are positive that we can seize the moment provided by the climate conference and create a greener, fairer future for people in Eastbourne of area and across the globe - if the UK government leads by example. Come on Boris - be a climate leader, not a climate loser.”