In just under three weeks, on Saturday the 8th of September, events will take place across the continent to increase the pressure on our local leaders to take action on climate change. The day of action takes place before the Global Climate Action Summit in California where local leaders will be committing to take action on climate change.

Leading the charge will be five mini-summits in Abuja, Cape Town, Dakar, Nairobi and Port Harcourt. At these summits, participants will come together with local government, civil society and faith leaders to talk about the changing energy landscape and ask them to commit to powering Africa’s development with renewable energy. In many of these locations, summits will be matched with public marches to show the diversity and power of the climate movement.

In addition to these five events, there will be many other events across the continent. From Tanzania to Cameroon individuals and organisers will host climate activists in showing the potential of renewable energy and the groundswell of people working to ensure that we have a clean energy future. Events will include radio discussions, marches, school debates, poetry readings, youth festivals and art exhibitions.

I’m personally looking forward to the fantastic images and visuals that will come out of the various events. In the build up to the day of action, artists from all over the world have created artworks to visually demonstrate the intention of the day, using the orange “X” to stand for our opposition to fossil fuels and the image of the sun for our renewable energy future. During the events participants will use these visual signifiers to present a united, global front. Climate change is the challenge of our time – the 8th of September will show off the global climate movements resolve to ensure that we rise above this challenge.

If you’re interested in joining any of these events and rising for climate with us, you can find one near you at www.350.org/rise. There is still time to host an event if you would like to – you can register on the same website.