Copenhagen. Protest & climate call... "We're heading toward catastrophic consequences that'll be irreversible," Kofi Annan

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Unless we take steps to arrest climate change, we are heading toward catastrophic consequences that will be irreversible. With changing rain patterns, we have a serious problem of food production. Diseases are moving faster and farther. How do we get governments to act cooperatively in the common interest? We saw a bit of that during the financial crisis. Now that some people are rushing ahead and saying we are out of the crisis, we are falling back on the old habits of protecting our national interests.

10 Questions for Kofi Annan, former UN head

Q: Do you think world leaders are putting enough effort into combatting global warming?
A: I don't think so. This is why we need the energy and involvement of everyone. This is our planet. We cannot and should not leave it to the leaders alone.

Q: What is the evidence for dangerous, man-made global warming?
A: Highly respected scientists have come to a consensus as to the impact of global warming. There is a broad consensus that we should reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 50% by the year 2050.

Q: What do you consider to be the greatest achievement of the U.N. during your tenure?
A: The fight against poverty and the fact that we got heads of state to agree to development goals. For the first time, we came up with a common agenda for development.

Q: What was the greatest failure of the U.N. during your time there?
A: Our failure to stop the war in Iraq. Some of us knew it was going to be a disaster and tried very hard to stop it. We all have seen the results.

Q: What do you see as the biggest issues for the U.N. over the next decade?
A: A world in which extreme poverty and immense wealth live side by side is simply not sustainable. We're dealing with issues--crime, nuclear weapons, diseases, swine flu--[that] no country can handle alone. How do we get governments to act cooperatively in the common interest? We saw a bit of that during the financial crisis. There was a sense of despair that pulled them together. Now that some people are rushing ahead and saying we are out of the crisis, we are falling back on the old habits of protecting our national interests.

Climate change protests: Demonstrations have taken place around the UK to urge action on climate change

In London, police originally said about 20,000 people had taken part - but did not contradict claims by the organizers that the actual figure was over 40,000, demanding world leaders to reach a tough new deal on cutting emissions.

About 7,000 turned out for a demonstration in Glasgow. A protest also took place in Belfast. As the main protest drew to a close on Saturday evening, some 150 protesters from a different action group - Camp for Climate Action - set up camp in Trafalgar Square, central London.

The demonstrators on Saturday made several demands, such as calling on Western nations to commit to an 80% cut in carbon emissions by 2050. A series of events known collectively as The Wave took place in London. They began with an ecumenical service at Westminster Central Hall, which involved both the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and Archbishop Vincent Nichols, head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

Religious leaders said they were taking part in The Wave because they "recognize unequivocally that there is a moral imperative to tackle the causes of global warming".

Obama, Hu lookalikes in German rising tide protest

German climate activists posing as international leaders sat inside a giant aquarium which was filled with water on Saturday in a protest held in Berlin against the world's rising sea levels. German protesters dressed as U.S. President Barack Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel, Chinese President Hu Jintao and wearing caricature face masks -- saw 4,000 liters of water rise to their chins to symbolize the impact of global warming. The protest in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate was designed to draw attention to a lack of progress in fighting climate change.

"The longer world leaders just talk and do nothing, the higher the water levels will rise," said Juergen Maier, a leader of Klima-Allianz that staged scores of other demonstrations around Germany on Saturday.

"They need to act now to slow climate change," he said. "The world needs action, not just more empty talk. Merkel acts like she's doing so much. But Germany still builds coal-burning power plants and has no speed limit. Germany could do much more."

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Photos courtesy of David Johnson / TIME, Mahesh Kumar A. /AP Photo, Reuters / Yves Herman, Johnny Green / Press Association / Associated Press, and EPA

Original Source: Time, BBC News, and Reuters