I think even though he [Nelson Mandela] was feted and praised as he was, he always was at pains to say, I'm a human being.

I was 15 years old when I first heard the name Mandela, or Madiba, as he is fondly known in Africa. In apartheid South Africa he was public enemy number one. Shrouded in secrecy, myth and rumour, the media called him 'The Black Pimpernel'.

Currently, we allow our political and business leaders to get away with murder. Now is the time to change that. We need direct liability for those who are destroying our future and this planet. We need fast, profound and systemic change. History only moves forward when courageous people get up and act. That's why I support this citizens' initiative to recognise ecocide as the crime it is.

Nelson Mandela once said "I can't help it if the ladies take note of me; I'm not going to protest."

Sandy was a climate change warning. Obama must now take the stage and fulfil the promise of hope the world needs.

Struggles only move forward when decent men and women step forward and say, 'enough is enough and no more.'

The city of Copenhagen is a climate crime scene tonight, with the guilty men and women fleeing to the airport in shame. World leaders had a once in a generation chance to change the world for good, to avert catastrophic climate change. In the end they produced a poor deal full of loopholes big enough to fly Air Force One through.