While delegates meet in the climate-controlled conference center in Glasgow, we’re going to bring the climate crisis right to them. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 

Hi John,

The 26th annual climate talks (COP26) are set to start this Sunday, October 31. These talks have always been less easy for people from developing countries to access. Many people won't make it to the table at all this year -- even more than usual, because of COVID travel restrictions, the UK government’s mishandling of the logistics, and the global unequal access to COVID vaccines. 

But the people facing serious climate impacts already are exactly who the UN delegates should be listening to while they negotiate climate action!

As COP26 gets started, we want to make sure all the COP participants hear something they won’t forget: the real voices of people dealing with extreme weather right now.

We’re putting together an audio message of people across the world demanding leaders at COP stop funding fossil fuels, pay what they owe for climate finance, and fund a just transition everywhere. We plan to play these messages to delegates throughout the conference. Whenever they lose sight of the priorities, we’ll make sure they hear them directly from you. Your voice could make a real difference.

We’re on a tight deadline. Recording your message will take no more than 5 minutes – but we need it by Saturday, October 30.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Prepare your message to the delegates attending the climate talks.

Start with a pen and paper, and sketch out what you want your message to say. 

• You can address a specific country, all heads of states or governments, all delegates, or just start telling your story.
• You can tell them how the climate crisis has affected you or your loved ones; what your motivation is for engaging in the climate movement; and especially, what a just, fair future means for you and your community. 
• You can tell them to act urgently to stop funding fossil fuels (like we have with this petition), or tell them how the climate crisis has impacted your life already.

Keep your message short – two or three sentences is enough! Remember that we need many different voices to make this work.

2. Practice your message.

Read out your message once or twice to make sure it’s clear and strong. You can time yourself to make sure you keep it short.

3. When you’re ready: click this link to open a blank WhatsApp message addressed to us! Messages will be collected by our 350 Africa team.

Record your message, or ask a friend to help you record it. We need a good mix of audio and video messages for this to work – take your pick!

To record a video: hold your phone in landscape mode (horizontally). Look directly into the camera. Make sure you’re in a quiet spot – if you’re outdoors, watch out for wind or traffic noise. Speak clearly.

To record an audio message: hold your phone or microphone close to your mouth. Speak clearly, and make sure there’s no loud background noise around you.

Please record your message in any language you are most comfortable speaking in.

4. Send in your message (before Saturday, October 30).

Send us your audio or video message via WhatsApp!

If you prefer, you can also send your video or audio message to us via email at [email protected].

(Please note: We won’t be able to answer questions that come to us via WhatsApp, but if you email us with your question, we’ll do our best to respond.) 

Thank you so much for taking part and helping get our collective voices heard!

Cansın for the 350.org team

P.S. This weekend, activists in Europe, the US and the Pacific will be taking action on the streets to increase the pressure on leaders to stop financing fossil fuels at these climate talks. Your voice message will help support their work on the ground, which you can follow using the #EndFossilFinance hashtag on all social media platforms.