After spending the night on top of the Palace of Westminster, all the Greenpeace volunteers who took our 'Change the politics, save the climate' message to the heart of our democracy have been arrested, and are now in various stages of the process of being bailed and released.

Talking to some of the activists who put their liberty at risk to demand that politicians get serious about tackling climate change, it’s obvious that they are not attention seeking troublemakers, as some in the media try to portray them. Over fifty people from all walks of life, nationalities, and aged from early 20s to over 70, felt compelled to take action. Reasonable people like you and me who perhaps a year ago wouldn't have considered climbing up there. Why? Because time to act is running out and our politicians, for all their fine words, are still stuck in their old ruts - essentially fiddling while Rome burns.

After spending the night on top of the Palace of Westminster, Greenpeace activists laid out a banner on the roof, visible to MPs returning for the new Parliamentary session. Its message "Change the politics, save the climate", is a reminder that time to act is running out, and that we desperately need politicians who are willing to rise above the dogmas of party politics and actively meet the greatest challenge of our time.

A few of the volunteers on the roof explain why they are taking direct action for the climate.

A cold Anna talks about the importance of still being on the roof in the morning.

Just a rough edit but gives you an idea of how our volunteers spent their night - looks cold.

Another day, another banner - a final message from Anna and Paulo from the roof of Parliament, before the protesters began to make their down on Monday evening.

Dear Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg,

Dozens of Greenpeace volunteers scaled the walls of the Palace of Westminster yesterday and spent the night on the roof to welcome you back from your summer break. The threat of climate change is so grave that it requires radical action and we believe that what we are doing here today is necessary to send a clear message to the country's politicians. If we don't change the politics and take real action here and internationally we will lose our chance to save the climate.

High above the Venice lagoon, Greenpeace demand strong climate leadership. from the G8.

Just as our tired activists in Italy were starting to settle in for a long night on top of the coal power stations yesterday, we got word that Greenpeace climbers in the US had rappelled down the face of Mount Rushmore with a banner that challenges Obama to show real leadership on climate change at the G8 this week.

Note - the live broadcast is no longer running.

We need to see real action from world leaders this year if we are going to save our climate. That's why over 100 Greenpeace activists from 15 countries occupied four coal-fired power stations across Italy today and they're demanding that the G8 Heads of State take decisive leadership on climate change. You can follow live updates from the Italy here.

And now our friends in the US have climbed Mount Rushmore and are challenging President Obama to be a leader on climate change, and they are broadcasting it live. The signal drops out occasionally, but when it works - wow. The park authorities have just reach the top of the monument.

The UK can set an example for the world by putting an end to new dirty coal-fired power plants. Tell Ed Miliband what you'll do if he consents a new dirty coal plant at Kingsnorth in Kent: The Big If

The Kingsnorth Six made history last year: accused of causing £30,000 of criminal damage to Kingsnorth power station, their defence of "lawful excuse"was accepted by the jury - because they were acting to safeguard property around the world "in immediate need of protection" from the impacts of climate change, caused in part by burning coal.

Whenever anyone asks me what it's like to work at Greenpeace the word that always springs to mind is privileged. Not only do I feel privileged to do a job that I enjoy with equally passionate people but more importantly to be able translate my anger about the damage done to people and the natural world into concrete positive action.

Emily is today's contributor to our spring blog relay - catch up on entries from other Greenpeace staff.

I've been working at Greenpeace for just over two years, before that I was a volunteer with both the climate team and the active supporters unit as well as an activist. I now work in the actions unit - a job I love - we deal with the logistics and equipment involved in all of our non-violent direct actions.  

Today I feel as if I am half here in our peaceful, light-filled office in London, and half in Brussels filled with mixed feelings of anticipation, adrenalin, moral strength and the odd moment of fear. I have just returned from a three day trip to Brussels where I went with a team of 38 UK activists to be part of a huge direct action that involved 340 activists from 20 different countries.