A thousand people who packed the Victoria Conference Centre Tuesday night called on the federal government to take a leadership role on climate change prior to a UN climate-change conference in Copenhagen next month.

"One giant event in itself will not change the Harper government's mind but part of the process is snowballing this into a much bigger mobilization," said Ken Wu, campaign director for the Victoria branch of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee.

Conservative MP Gary Lunn, representing Saanich-Gulf Islands, could not be reached for comment.

The Countdown to Copenhagen Climate Rally and Info Night, billed as the largest indoor environmental event in years, featured some of Canada's leading climate-change leaders including climate scientist Dr. Andrew Weaver and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May.

"Everyone from age 1 to 99 was there," said Weaver. "I'm not a rally guy and I found it really uplifting."

Canada must commit to a stringent and binding agreement on climate change in Copenhagen or it will be too late, Weaver said.

He wants the developed world to commit to reducing carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 and 50 per cent globally. A third of those reductions are needed by 2020, Weaver said.