Climate Of Care Called For

The Dominion Post
(New Zealand)

16 October 2009

IN A nurse’s uniform, Lucy Lawless turned heads – and bandaged up arms – all in the name of climate change.

The actress left her warrior princess days behind for ‘‘street theatre’’ in Manners Mall, Wellington, yesterday.

A medics’ tent was erected and doctors and nurses were walking the streets sporting blue casts – with the slogan ‘‘Come on John, Sign On’’ – and clipboards in a Greenpeace stunt.

Lawless said her ties to Greenpeace dated back about 18 years when she played deckhand Bunny McDiarmid in a film about the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior.

Ms McDiarmid, now executive director of Greenpeace, asked her to be one of the 15 celebrity ambassadors for Sign On. She agreed, saying it was time to make changes and lessen the impact of climate change. ‘‘They started talking about climate change when I was about 10. That was 30 years ago.

‘‘I thought it was something grownups would take care of. Then I became a grown-up.’’

The Sign On campaign urges the Government to adopt a 40 per cent emissions reduction target by 2020 at the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen in December. More than 130,000 people had signed on to the campaign.
The emergency theme yesterday represented the need for urgency of climate change action.