Oxfam on tour with Coldplay

by Pete Lusby, Oxfam Coordinator on Coldplay’s Tour
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I’ve just come back from Quebec, Canada and America, where I’ve been organising Oxfam’s presence at Coldplay’s concerts. We’ve been campaigning on the For All campaign, asking the crowd to sign up to the For All Pledge.

We had some great nights. Montreal was an amazing show; the crowd were in full voice all night. The Oxfam Quebec volunteers worked tirelessly, signing up an amazing 1,887 people. In Toronto there were two amazing shows, and thanks to the efforts of the awesome Oxfam Canada volunteering team, almost 3,000 people signed the For All pledge.

I’m so pleased we’re part of this tour. Sitting amongst the road cases, blogging backstage. Or talking to people on the concourse, before they take their seats. Coldplay may well be stopping by in a town near you on this tour. It’s a show worth waiting for. There’s no reason to wait to get involved with Oxfam’s work, you can take action by signing the Pledge. To find out the latest from Coldplay’s tour, follow my blog.

Oxfam is on the road with Coldplay on their 2008 tour of North America & Europe. Credit: Pete Lusby

Poor people can’t bear it – Oxfam’s Polar Bears reject the US Climate offer

Oxfam’s Polar bears came back for a second visit to the Untied Nation Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia today, as they could not believe that on the final day of the summit, there was still no clear agreement on a way forward to tackle climate change. You can watch a video of what they got up to on our YouTube Channel.

It’s up to U Now – message to delegates Climate Change Conference

With just three days left to the conference closes, Oxfam blitzed delegates at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, with a special photographic exhibition and calendar called “It’s up to UNow”.

The photos, are messages from people in developing countries, who are already having to adapt and live with the impacts of climate change, as well as people from rich countries, who are taking personal action to reduce their contribution to climate change. Take a look at all of the photo messages on our Flickr profile.

Today, they are coming together to send a clear message to delegates at this conference, to do all they can to ensure that the interests of people living in poverty are put at the heart of any decisions and outcomes from Bali.

Quite simply, they are telling delegates “It’s up to UNow”.

We have given delegates a chance to show their support to Fight Climate Poverty, by having their photo taken, so it can be added to the exhibition. More updates on who took the challenge later.

Shahanara, from Bangladesh (pictured above) stood in flood water near the camp she has been staying at for five months since her house was destroyed in the floods in the village of Puteakhal. She said “I have raised my home and my husband is trying to work in the market. What else can we do. We have no option now”. Read more from Shahanara, and other stories and messages on our flickr pages.