1st Dec: The first day

Tom Picken, Head of International Climate Tom Picken, our Head of International Climate is sending regular updates direct from the Poznan climate talks.

My train pulled into Poznan, Poland on Saturday morning. I'm here for the UN climate change conference.

The talks kick off today and go on for the next two weeks.

Around fifty Friends of the Earth campaigners from around the world have descended on Poznan.

We're all here to do three things:

Lobby our Governments.
Get our messages out to the world.
Build a global network of activists.

The opening session of the talks in Poznan.

Around fifty members of the Young Friends of the Earth network also arrive this week. They'll be carrying out actions and protests to draw attention to what is at stake.

The climate talks in Poznan are an important milestone towards a vital new international climate deal. This is due to be agreed in December 2009 in Copenhagen.

This deal has to include:

Tough new commitments
for reductions in emissions in industrialised countries.
Access to existing clean technology
for developing countries.
An end to deforestation
so that it doesn't worsen climate change.

Here in Poznan, the pressure is on. December 2009 may seem a long way off.

But much progress is needed over the next two weeks. We need to end up with a strong and fair deal in Copenhagen.

To be strong it has to do what the science tells us is necessary. To be fair it has to ensure the countries responsible for climate change take the lead in tackling it.

Poorer countries have to be compensated for the costs of coping with the impacts of climate change, including: