There were 239 events in Australia for the International Day of Climate Action, Mie Tast reports on two major Sydney events that were aimed at Australian leaders.

Photo gallery: 350 in Sydney

Opera House

More than 1000 protesters at the Sydney Opera House spelled out ’350′ with blue umbrellas to send a message about climate change.

350.org Australia CEO, Blair Palese, said the 350 Australia message is aimed at the Australian contingent going to the CO15 climate change conference in Copenhagen.

“The idea with 350 is also to educate. People need to learn more about science,” she said. “The day has been a success, but whether the whole project has been successful, we have to wait and see after Copenhagen.”

In addition to this, there were concerts, short speeches and entertainment from artists such as Australian band The Beautiful Girls, who played the first song they wrote about climate change.

Samba

Over 40 volunteers danced through Sydney to send a message about climate change.

The event was organised by the Wilderness Society, and Mal Fischer, community campaigner with the Society, said the samba was chosen due to its popularity.

“We wanted to do something different,” he said. “And people love it.”

To prepare, volunteers attended one samba training session last Tuesday. On the day, they started at Kippax Street, Surry Hills and made their way to the Opera House, dancing the whole way.

They stopped at a few key locations like Town Hall, the Australian Labour Party’s headquarters, and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) offices.

Fishcer said their main message is that Australia’s “wild places” need to be preserved, saying there is no point in cutting our emissions if we keep cutting down the trees as Australian forests are the most carbon-rich in the world.

“Our message is: don’t chuck down the forest,” he said.

Mie is on exchange at UTS from the Danish School of Media and Journalism