Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of New York on Sunday, demanding more action against climate change, two days before the official opening of the United Nations General Assembly.
Protesters from some 700 organizations and activist groups gathered in New York, holding signs that read, among other things, “Biden, end fossil fuels”, “Fossil fuels are killing us” and “I don’t I didn’t vote for fires and floods.”
American President Joe Biden is notably on the list of world leaders who will meet from today at the UN for the UNGA, the official opening of which is scheduled for Tuesday.
“We are here to ask the administration to declare a climate emergency,” said Analilia Mejia, director of the activist group Center for Popular Democracy.
“Lives at stake”
In a UN climate report released this month, international experts said greenhouse gas emissions are expected to peak in 2025 – followed by a sharp decline thereafter – if the Humanity has set itself the goal of limiting global warming, in accordance with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
The Paris Treaty, ratified in 2015, has encouraged multiple actions in favor of the climate, but “there is still much to do on all fronts”, details the report, the next working base for COP28 in Dubai at the end of year.
Another activist, Nalleli Cobo, 22, invites political leaders to “come to her house”, in the state of California, to “spend the night next to an oil and gas well”.
The activist, who worked with Swede Greta Thunberg on climate campaigns, blames “toxic air” to which she was exposed at home as the cause of the ovarian cancer she contracted at the age of 19. “Our lives are at stake,” she believes.
California on Friday launched a lawsuit against five oil giants for their role in global warming, accusing them of causing billions of dollars in damage and misleading the public about the risks of fossil fuels.
During the General Assembly, a “Climate Ambition” summit will be held on Wednesday at the initiative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres.
“History will remember their action or their inaction,” Mr. Mejia said. And if we’re lucky, human beings will be there to remember what [les dirigeants mondiaux] made during this summit. »