http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/18/climate-change-common-people-march-jarvis-cocker

Do I really have to march? Its actually a serious question: I mean, marchings rather ... military, isnt it? Bit aggressive. Bit too much like what the baddies on the other side would do, dont you think? Wouldnt you rather saunter? Or stroll? Mince, even? A hop, a skip or a jump anything but stern-faced, humorless marching. And lets face it: were probably going to need a sense of humor.

Remember 15 February 2003? If youre taking the trouble to read this, then you probably went to an anti-war march that day. Didnt turn out so well, did it? Nothing really changed. The largest protest event in human history, as we remember it today, was effectively ignored. That left a nasty taste. It might even have put you off the idea of protesting forever. The marching boots were thrown to the back of the cupboard and you went into a major sulk. Maybe you even wrote a song about it. Yeah, thatll tell em. You wrote the words:

If you dont like it then leave

or use your right to protest on the street.

Yeah, use your right

but dont imagine that its heard.

No: not whilst c***ts are still running the world.

Running the World (2006)

And you thought: Yes! Smash the system! And then ... time passed. Until you got this email:

On Sunday, Sept 21, a climate march through midtown Manhattan will kick off a week of high-profile climate events in the Big Apple. Promoted as an effort to bring unprecedented attention to climate change, the gathering comes just as international climate negotiations ramp up in a major push toward a new global accord. The Peoples Climate March, being called the largest climate march in history by organizers, will potentially draw over a hundred thousand people to walk through Manhattan and show a level of demand for action not seen since the era of Civil Rights marches and anti-Vietnam protests.

Can you be arsed? Do you risk being disappointed again? Or do you sit this one out? I mean, climate change is a bit old-hat now, isnt it? And some people say it doesnt even exist people like ... Nigel Lawson. (A note for non-British readers: you may be more familiar with his daughter, the TV chef Nigella Lawson. The fact that he gave his daughter a feminized version of his own name tells you all you need to know about him, really.)

Back in 2008, I sailed the coast of Greenland on a vessel chartered by the organization Cape Farewell and saw the effects of global warming firsthand. It exists. On the way home, we spent a few hours in Reykjavíks international airport waiting for a connecting flight back to the UK. I bought an ashtray made out of lava. When I got back home, I turned the TV on. It was the morning of the stock market crash and I learned that Iceland, the country I had been visiting not four hours previously, was effectively bankrupt.

That gave me a strange feeling because I hadnt noticed. The sun had still been shining as I walked through the airport terminal. People had gone about their everyday business as usual, there had been air to breathe and nothing to betray the cataclysm that had befallen the entire country. How could that be? This was a financial crisis! The Big One! THE ECONOMY was at risk! Why was the world still turning?

You whisper now, but could it be that there is a higher power than THE ECONOMY? I know that sounds a bit sacrilegious, but could it be that THE ECOLOGY is actually the biggie? That maybe having air to breathe, water to drink and land to inhabit could be more important than the fluctuations of the FTSE or the Dow Jones? Its just a thought a thought that most people instinctively understanding, but that the political classes have yet to grasp.

In the end it all comes down to a single letter R that has somehow gone astray over the years.

Exactly when did government for the people become government of the people? When did the function of government change from public service to crowd control? From protector to pimp?

The Peoples Climate March this Sunday is important. Because governments wont put the case for action on climate change too strongly no, that might be interpreted as being anti-business. It might dissuade corporations from building factories in countries that sign on to climate agreements. It might be harmful to THE ECONOMY. So once again it will be left to ordinary people to point out the blindingly obvious fact that destroying the place you live in is not a good idea. It really isnt. And the powers that be would do well to heed the cold, hard truth that there are more of us than them, that we are heartily sick and tired of being ignored.

Thats not a threat, you understand. I just thought Id point it out.

Yep, its once more unto the streets, dear friends (you know you want to, really), and I would like to suggest that you dance your way along the route. Much more fun than marching.