Former UN chief Kofi Annan on Thursday launched a "musical petition" involving some 60 world celebrities in the name of climate change ahead of a key Copenhagen summit.

The petition can be signed by downloading free of charge the new version of 1980s Midnight Oil hit "Beds Are Burning" by the Australian group.

The group's former frontman Peter Garrett is currently Australian environment minister.

The song was recorded by some 60 celebrities including former tennis champion turned musician Yannick Noah, musicians Youssou N'Dour, Lilly Allen and Duran Duran, and Nobel Peace Prize winner, South African archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Annan, who heads the Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum, said at a media conference that the Copenhagen agreement "must be ambitious, it must be universal, and it must be fair.

"For there is gross injustice at the heart of climate change. The countries and people who are most damaged by its impact are those who have done least to create it.

"Our task is to ensure that their voices and those of future generations are heard so loudly over the next two months or so, that the political leaders are forced to listen and to act."

The petition is part of the "tck tck tck" project, which aims to draw attention to the urgency of the global warming crisis.

Other popular artists who added their voices include French actress Marion Cotillard, Irish singer/composer Bob Geldof and Chinese singer Khalil Fong.