Mass demonstrations are taking place across the UK and worldwide to coincide with UN climate change talks in Bali.
Parallel eco-marches are planned in 50 cities globally, including London, Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast.
A march in London will deliver a letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown calling for strong UK climate change law.
The rallies come midway through the summit which is considering how to cut greenhouse gas emissions after current Kyoto Protocol targets expire in 2012.
Thousands of delegates from almost 200 nations are attending the two-week UN Framework Convention on Climate Change on the Indonesian island of Bali.
They are seeking progress towards a "Kyoto II" deal - a new global climate treaty. Talks will also focus on how to help poor nations cope in a warming world.
UK campaigners are urging ministers to agree a "clear roadmap" for a global low carbon economy.
Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper said: "It is essential our politicians show the leadership required and ensure that the climate talks in Bali speed the world towards a low-carbon future and ensure the long-term security of generations to come."
He called for a strong climate change law that cuts UK emissions by 3% a year and includes emissions from international aviation and shipping, as well as annual milestones.
Milestones
Indonesian environment minister, Rachmat Witoelar, who is president of the conference, said he hoped the United States, which did not sign the 1997 Kyoto accord, would be brought on board.
Australia's trade minister, Simon Crean, has warned that both rich and poor nations must commit to slashing greenhouse gas emissions.
He said Australia would not sign any binding commitments until it has the results next year of a climate change report commissioned by new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Mr Rudd signed papers leading to the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol as soon as he took office, reversing the policy of the previous conservative government.
The US opposes Kyoto because it does not include major polluters like China and India.
It is expected to resist pressure to agree binding emission targets, despite hopes among developing countries that emission cuts of 25-40% by 2020 for industrialised countries would be included in a final agreement when the conference ends.
The figures were agreed upon earlier this year by industrialised nations that signed the Kyoto Protocol.
It commits three dozen industrialized countries to cut their greenhouse gases an average of 5% below 1990 levels between next year and 2012, when it expires.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7120952.stm
Key climate summit opens in Bali
Governments at a key UN climate summit will discuss how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions after the current Kyoto Protocol targets expire in 2012.
Talks will centre on whether a further set of binding targets is needed.
It is the first such meeting since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that evidence for global warming was "unequivocal".
The two-week gathering in Bali, Indonesia, will also debate how to help poor nations cope in a warming world.
The annual high-level meeting, organised by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is under pressure to deliver a new global agreement on how to cut rising greenhouse gas emissions.
Rachmat Witoelar, the Indonesian environment minister who was named president of the conference, pledged to do his best to deliver a deal.
"Climate protection must form an integral part of sustainable economic development, and it is critical that we act and we act now," he said.
UNFCCC Executive Director Yvo de Boer urged the international community to use the summit to take "concrete steps" towards curbing climate change.
"We urgently need to take increased action, given climate change predictions and the corresponding global adaptation needs," he said in his welcome message to delegates.
"In the context of climate change, projections of economic growth and increases in energy demand over the next 20 years, especially in developing countries, point to the urgent need to green these trends."
Earlier this year, the IPCC published its Fourth Assessment Report (A4R), in which it projected that the world would warm by 1.8-4.0C (3.2-7.2F) over the next century.
Mr de Boer added that the IPCC's conclusion that climate change was "very likely" the result of human activity ended any doubt over the need to act.
Climate for consensus?
At the top of the conference's agenda is the need to reach a consensus on how to curb emissions beyond 2012.
This marks the end of the current phase of the Kyoto Protocol, which commits industrialised nations to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by an average of about 5% from 1990 levels.
Critics of the existing framework say binding targets do not work, and favour technological advances instead.
Recent studies show that levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are rising faster than they were a decade ago.
Meanwhile, US President George Bush - who favours voluntary rather than mandatory targets - issued a statement saying that the nation's emissions had fallen by 1.5% in 2006 from levels in 2005.
Mr Bush used the reduction as an endorsement of his climate policy, saying: "Our guiding principle is clear: we must lead the world to produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
"We must do it in a way that does not undermine economic growth or prevent nations from delivering greater prosperity for their people."
However, the European Union backs the use of binding targets. The 27-nation bloc has already committed itself to cut emissions by 20% by 2020.
A number of observers believe the difference between the two economic powerhouses will result in the Bali conference failing to deliver a policy roadmap for "Kyoto II".
Softening the blow
The conference is also scheduled to consider how to fund projects that will help developing nations deal with the impact of climate change.
Ahead of the climate conference, another UN agency published a report criticising global efforts to date.
The UN Development Programme's annual Human Development Report said funding currently amounted to $26m (£13m), roughly the same amount as the UK spent on its flood defences in a week.
"Nobody wants to understate the very real long-term ecological challenges that climate change will bring to rich countries," said lead author Kevin Watkins.
"But the near-term vulnerabilities are not concentrated in lower Manhattan and London, but in flood-prone areas of Bangladesh and drought-prone parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
"Allowing the window of opportunity to close would represent a moral and political failure without precedent in human history."
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