Online petitions are one of those things I do just in case they actually work. Well, last week, I received an email from Avaaz.org, telling me a great story that happened to one of those I signed about climate change. This is encouraging and I'm hooked.

To make a long story short, it was handed to the environment ministers of G8 countries last March 19. They were planning for their big G8 powwow this June. Avaaz campaigner Iain Keith described his experience after he gave a short speech and as he handed the petition of 100,000 in:

" I handed the petition to the German environment minister, Sigmar Gabriel. The meeting continued, with speeches on other issues from other organizations. I wondered if all of the work had been worth it... And then came Minister Gabriel's closing speech.

I could hardly believe it: he was saying that climate change must be the number one priority at the G8 summit. And he was holding our petition.

"Thanks to increased pressure from people around the world," he said, "the tide is turning. When an international NGO can gather this many signatures" (here he holds up the petition), "we cannot ignore this problem anymore... As Environmental ministers, we have a responsibility both to the environment and our voters to make sure our heads of state act!"

And a few days later, German Chancellor and G8 President Angela Merkel vowed to put climate change at the top of the agenda for the G8 Leaders Summit."


While the levels of internet access across social strata and across countries vary considerably, I would say this is a cheerful little example of democracy. It's way more dynamic than non-digital petitions or policy suggestions, because it responds quicker and there is end-user interaction and feedback. Nice!