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On Sunday night, a group of Greenpeace volunteers, including myself, took to the streets of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to take a stand against the coal industry and its place in causing mass coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef.

Using a high pressure hose, and a stencil, we were able to wash the image into the streets, mostly in iconic parts of the city.

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Our aim: to get as many people as possible to understand the detrimental effects the coal industry has on one of Australia’s most iconic and beautiful marine environments.

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It took a few hours of a cold, rainy night to spread our message across the city. But I couldn’t help but smile as we pressure hosed the footpaths, thinking about the time I made the brave decision to close my eyes and jump…

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our actions enter Day 3. On Tuesday, activists occupied the Abbot Point coal export terminal in Bowen. Yesterday, a further 10 activists locked on to a coal loader at Hay Point Coal Terminal. Four activists remain, 24 hours later. We're very proud of them and have been in regular contact via phone.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They spent the night locked on to 50-metre high suspension cables at the terminal, which has now been shut down operations for a full 24 hours.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the activists said this morning: "What an incredible way to wake up. Moon setting and sun rising." Of course, no doubt they're also a little tired and weary.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Greenpeace is taking action to highlight the dramatic expansion of Australia’s export coal capacity at a time when Pacific Island Leaders are meeting with Kevin Rudd in Cairns to call for the deep emissions cuts necessary to safeguard their futures against climate change. It's crazy.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“The kind of action that Greenpeace is taking is vital,” said Fijian Greenpeace Campaigner Lagi Toribau. “Our communities at home are being displaced and even the existence of some of the lower lying states such as Tuvalu is threatened Time is running out. Kevin Rudd needs to back Pacific leaders not blindly keep expanding coal export at their expense.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Today is the final day of the Pacific Island Forum in Cairns. Kevin Rudd needs to support the call from Small Island States to reduce emissions by 45%. Will he support our Pacific neighbours or get down and dirty with coal?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->

It’s not an easy thing to do at age 5, making the choice to jump into the endless blue ocean not knowing what was below your feet. What if there were sharks? Or any number of underwater monsters that existed in my overactive imagination? As the water settled around me and the underwater oasis came into focus, I knew that the Great Barrier Reef and myself would be linked for the rest of my life.

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How could one not be enchanted by the cities of vibrant corals that seemed to rival the great metropolises of the world, or be in awe of the schools of fish and sea creatures bustling around far busier than anything in the world above? This was truly a world and wonder in its own right.

We have managed to reverse billions of years of global climate patterns in a mere few hundred years since the industrial revolution. We have managed not only to change the parts of the world that we directly interact with, but almost every corner of this planet. One by one the wonders of this world are losing their ability to be beautiful and sustainable. It is so important that we all stand up and act on our beliefs. That we say the way we are treating the environment is not okay, and that we will not stand for it anymore.

I hope you’ll stand with me and send a strong message to our politicians.