The countdown is on. Senior staff at the European Central Bank have agreed to meet with us next Monday to receive our petition asking them to stop funding climate criminals.

For once, the bankers will be listening. So let’s make them hear something they won’t forget.

During the online meeting, we want the ECB staff to hear the real voices of real people behind the petition signatures. We want to share a 2-minute long video of people across Europe demanding an end to fossil fuel finance, and a green and just recovery for all.

Your voice could make a real difference, Susan. If you can share it – I’ll make sure it gets heard. But we’re on a tight deadline.

We’re on a tight deadline. Recording your message will take no more than 10 minutes – but to get the video ready before our meeting with the ECB, I need to ask you to send it to us until 10:00 am this Thursday, 15 October.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Prepare your message to Christine Lagarde

Start with a pen and paper, and sketch out what you want your message to say. If you need a reminder, here are our main campaign demands,

• You can start with “Dear Ms Lagarde”, “Madame President”, or even “Dear Christine”.
• In your message, you can ask Lagarde and the European Central Bank to stop funding polluters, or demand that they put the wellbeing of people and a safe climate first. You can ask that the ECB commits to ending their practice of buying bonds from fossil fuel companies.
• You can tell the ECB staff to be climate champions, and to ensure that the new strategy of the Bank works for people, not polluters.
• You can also say what a green, just recovery, and a green new deal mean for you – and why that’s what the ECB money should finance.

Keep your message short – one or two sentences is enough! Remember that we need many different voices to make this work.

2. Practice your message

Read out your message once or twice to make sure it’s clear and strong. You can time yourself to make sure you keep it short.

3. When you’re ready: click this link to open a blank WhatsApp message addressed to us!

Record your message, or ask a friend to help you record it. We need a good mix of audio and video messages for this to work – take your pick!

To record a video: hold your phone in landscape mode (horizontally). Look directly into the camera. Make sure you’re in a quiet spot – if you’re outdoors, watch out for wind or traffic noise. Speak clearly.

To record an audio message: hold your phone or microphone close to your mouth. Speak clearly, and make sure there’s no loud background noise around you.

Please record your message in English, French or German.

4. Send in your message (before Thursday, 15 October 10am!)

If you prefer you can also send your video or audio message to us via email at [email protected]

(Please note: We won’t be able to answer questions that come to us via WhatsApp but if you email us with your query, we’ll do our best to respond.) 

Together with your recording, please send your name, and a short message giving us permission to use your recording in our campaign video and action. “I consent to 350.org using this recording in the scope of the ECB campaign action” (either verbally, or written down) is enough!

Thank you so much for taking part and helping thousands of people supporting our campaign to get our collective voices heard!